There are now 230 confirmed cases in Ontario, up from 156 on July 14, 133 on July 11 and 101 on July 6. Public Health Ontario says all but one of the confirmed cases are in men and 172 of the confirmed cases so far involve Toronto residents. There are eight other possible cases in the province that remain under investigation. Elsewhere in Ontario, Ottawa now reports 16 confirmed cases, Halton reports 7, Middlesex-London reports 9 and Hamilton reports 5 confirmed cases. Nine people required hospitalization due to infection and all made a full recovery. All Ontario cases identified so far have involved people between the ages of 69 and under 20. The most commonly reported symptoms include rash, oral/genital lesions, swollen lymph nodes, headache, fever, chills, myalgia, and fatigue. 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 items 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. Infected individuals can remain contagious through skin contact for up to four weeks. Ontario is now testing anyone who presents to a health care provider or emergency room with an “unexplained acute rash or lesions.” 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. The City of Toronto continues to offer Imvamune smallpox vaccine to people considered to be at high risk of exposure. There is also a treatment known as TPoxx which has been shown to be useful in cases where patients have suffered severe complications from infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) now says it is aware of 13,436 confirmed cases of monkeypox in 59 countries around the world, including three deaths. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says it knows of 539 cases across Canada, with the most in Ontario and Quebec.
