Toronto reports three more confirmed cases of monkeypox

Thestar.com
June 3, 2022

Toronto Public Health reported three more cases of monkeypox on Thursday, bringing the total number of positive cases in the city to five.

Five suspected cases are being investigated and 10 suspected cases have been confirmed negative as of Thursday, according to the public health unit.

Toronto’s first case of the virus was confirmed on May 26. The second was confirmed on Wednesday.

Toronto Public Health said they were not able to share any information about the patients in the three new cases on Thursday.

In its latest report last Friday, the national public health agency reported 26 cases of monkeypox were confirmed in Canada. That count doubled over the next week, as Quebec public health officials said in a tweet on Wednesday that 52 cases have been confirmed in Quebec.

Chief medical officer of health for Alberta, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, said, in a tweet, Thursday evening that “one isolated case” of monkeypox has been confirmed in Alberta.

Monkeypox is a rare disease related to smallpox. The virus can be spread by contact with body fluids, contaminated clothing and bedding or through respiratory droplets after “prolonged” face-to-face contact, according to Toronto Public Health. Smallpox vaccines are being used to treat the virus.

Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, aches, chills, swollen lymph nodes and rashes and lesions that often begin on the face.

The virus does not affect any exclusive group of people or setting, chief public health officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam said on Twitter Thursday evening.

“Anyone, no matter their gender or sexual orientation, could get infected and spread the virus.”

Toronto Public Health asks people who may have been exposed to the virus to isolate and seek medical attention.