Public Health Ontario says there are now 101 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the province, up from 33 on June 22, with 85 of them in Toronto and all in men.
The remaining confirmed cases are in Ottawa (4), Halton (2), Middlesex-London (2) and eight other public health units, including Hamilton, Durham and Simcoe-Muskoka with one case each.
There are eight other possible cases in the province that remain under investigation.
While anyone can contract and transmit monkeypox, the recent outbreak in Europe and North America has seen significant spread among gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men.
Federal guidelines indicate that the smallpox vaccine is most effective if given within four days of exposure to a case, but may help if given up to 14 days after exposure.
Monkey pox is usually spread through prolonged close contact between people who breathe, talk, cough or sneeze.
It can also be spread through skin-to-skin contact with rashes or body fluids, and it can also remain on objects such as clothing or linens that have been in contact with an infected person.
Symptoms can appear anywhere between five to 21 days after exposure.
Public Health Ontario says the most common symptoms seen were a noticeable skin rash (76.2 per cent of cases), fever (56.4 per cent of cases), swollen lymph nodes (54.5 per cent of cases) and oral/genital lesions (51 percent). percent of cases).
Ongoing research shows that even widespread testing will miss cases of monkeypox infection similar to SARS-COV-2.
A study just submitted for review by Belgium on Tuesday found that three of 224 men tested for monkeypox came back positive despite reporting no distinct symptoms of any kind.
“It is likely that in the current outbreak in non-endemic settings, asymptomatic carriage plays a more substantial role in virus transmission,” the study authors wrote.
At the end of June, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was aware of 3,413 confirmed cases of the virus worldwide.
Public Health Canada says it knows of 300 cases across the country, including 211 in Quebec.
