York Region reports its first Monkeypox cases

cp24.com
July 8, 2022

York Region has reported its first two confirmed cases of the Monkeypox virus.

The cases, which are not believed to be connected to one another, were reported by York Region Public Health on Thursday.

“Human monkeypox is a rare infectious disease and the risk for most people in the community is considered to be very low,” York Region;s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barry Pakes said in a press release. “York Region Public Health continues to monitor the situation and follow up with all close contacts of the two cases, who have both been isolating appropriately.”

The latest data released by Public Health Ontario suggests that there are currently 101 confirmed cases of Monkeypox in the province, including 85 cases in Toronto.

That is more than three times the number of confirmed cases in the province on June 22.

In addition to York Region, cases have been identified in Toronto (85), Ottawa (4), Halton (2), Middlesex-London (2) and eight other public health units including Hamilton, Peel, Durham and Simcoe-Muskoka with one case each.

York Region Public Health says that Monkeypox is “caused by a virus that does not spread easily between people,” which reduced the risk of widespread infection.

“When it does, it spreads through prolonged close contact such as between household members or during intimate contact (e.g., skin-to-skin contact, sex). It may also spread through contact with contaminated materials, such as bedding or laundry, or from contact with body fluids, such as the fluid from monkeypox sores,” the press release notes.

Public Health Ontario says the most common symptoms observed with a Monkeypox infection have been a noticeable skin rash (76.2 per cent of case), fever (56.4 per cent of cases), swollen lymph nodes (54.5 per cent of cases) and oral/genital lesions (51 per cent of cases).