The 28-year-old Toronto resident had just returned to work as a dancer and gymnast in late May when he developed a fever. “I was so delirious,” he said in an interview, describing the painful symptoms associated with the disease and feeling isolated during about three weeks of home quarantine. “I must have been really sick and I didn’t even know it. For two days I didn’t really move, I just went to the bathroom and went back to bed and slept some more. It was very high fever and night chills. I was wearing a winter jacket to bed, I was so cold.”

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Story continues below ad Kelly’s fever broke on the third day, and soon after he said he noticed a red rash. She said she immediately started looking online for what the rash could be. “You start googling this and that’s the worst thing you can do.” Doctors suspected it was herpes, which Kelly said “scared” him. “It started to really affect my mental health because you can’t cure it. You can just check it over the years.” But he looked at the photos more closely and wondered if it was monkey pox.

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He went to the local hospital and told the authorities: “I need a monkeypox test, please.” The result came back positive. Kelly said he was one of the first people in Ontario to contract the virus and is now part of a study of former patients being conducted at St. Michael’s in Toronto. Public Health Canada has recorded more than 600 cases of monkeypox, or MPXV as it’s known to the scientific community, since it was first reported in early June. Quebec has the highest number of cases with more than 300, followed by 230 in Ontario, 40 in British Columbia and about a dozen in Alberta. The disease has mainly been reported in men who have sex with men. Story continues below ad There are more than 6,000 laboratory-confirmed cases worldwide and three people have died from the disease, according to data from the World Health Organization. Local transmission of monkeypox has been recorded without epidemiological links to countries that have previously reported monkeypox, such as western or central parts of Africa, he said. Trending Stories

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Kelly said his rash and injuries were some of the most painful things he had to endure, and that the mere act of the flip-flop was “devastating”. It was when the rash started turning into boils that the pain became unimaginable, she recalls.

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“That’s when the pain throbbed. And I mean throbbing,” he said. “It felt like an electric shock. I didn’t sleep for about 30 hours or something. It was so painful. I had a towel between my teeth trying to clench it, only to wince in pain. But I couldn’t handle it. It was crazy.” A lesion on his left leg began to pool blood because he had to put his weight on it to walk, he said. Added to the physical pain was the mental stress, he said. Story continues below ad Aside from visits to hospitals and clinics, Kelly remained isolated in his tiny Toronto apartment. “I felt helpless because I’m being told to isolate myself for God only knows how long and I’m in horrible pain,” she said. During those three weeks, Kelly said he lost all of his dancing and training work, but his bills kept piling up. He spent $50 a week on his building’s coin-operated laundry and $120 on bandages and sterile supplies. Friends dropped off food and groceries and coins for the laundry. Toronto Public Health gave him a grocery gift card, though he didn’t know how to use it while he was in isolation. 1:53Monkeypox: With cases up 59% in Canada, what are the signs to be aware of? Monkeypox: With cases up 59% in Canada, what are the signs to be aware of? As one of the first diagnosed cases of monkeypox in Toronto, Kelly said he felt “he was a bit of a guinea pig.” Story continues below ad He was told to “triple” all of his trash and label it as hazardous waste for a team to pick up, he said. Kelly said he “definitely” contracted the virus in a bathroom. “I got it because I like to have sex,” she said. While he had a lot of support, he also received some hateful messages on social media. “You have the gay pox,” or “you’re disgusting,” or “you deserve it,” she said, recalling some of the messages. Kelly said there was a stigma attached to contracting monkeypox, and he was initially concerned about how humans would react to his infection. But decide to be open about it. “I’m going to tell someone about this because there are more people, it’s not just me. They are in the same situation at home isolated and no one talks about it. There are no resources or anything.” He said he would like the government and public health agencies to devote more resources to fighting the spread of monkeypox. His period of isolation ended on June 21, and Kelly said he found a whole new appreciation for the outdoors. “I’m moving on with my life.” © 2022 The Canadian Press