Public Health Ontario reports 101 confirmed monkeypox cases, up from 33 two weeks ago

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This article was published 05/07/2022 (672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Public Health Ontario is reporting 101 confirmed monkeypox cases across the province, up from 33 cases two weeks ago.

A summary report on the disease up to July 4 says there are also eight probable cases in Ontario.

The report says 85 cases are in Toronto, with more than one case each in health units covering Ottawa, Halton Region and Middlesex-London.

Health units in Hamilton, Durham Region, Eastern Ontario, Haldimand-Norfolk, Peel Region, Peterborough, Simcoe-Muskoka and Guelph also confirmed single cases.

All reported cases are in men between the ages of 20 and 65 and commonly reported symptoms include rash, oral and genital lesions, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, chills, myalgia and fatigue.

Public health says most cases are among men who report intimate contact with men but says anyone can get monkeypox.

Monkeypox generally does not spread easily between people and is transmitted through prolonged close contact via respiratory droplets, direct contact with skin lesions or bodily fluids, or through contaminated clothes or bedding.

The disease comes from the same family of viruses that cause smallpox, which the World Health Organization declared eradicated around the globe in 1980.

Smallpox vaccines have proven effective in combating the monkeypox virus.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 6, 2022.