Toronto Star ePaper

City probes suspected case of monkeypox

Man may have had contact with person who travelled to Montreal, TPH says

ISAAC PHAN NAY

Toronto Public Health said on Saturday it is investigating the city’s first suspected case of the rare disease monkeypox.

In a press release, the health unit said a male Toronto resident in their 40s is stable and recovering in hospital.

TPH added that he may have come in contact with an individual who travelled to Montreal.

“The risk to the general public from this infection is very low,” said the press release. “In general, monkeypox does not spread easily between people.”

The health unit also said people may have been exposed to monkeypox if they attended the Axis Club on College Street on May 14 or Woody’s bar on Church Street on May 13 and 14.

Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and lesions all over the body.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said monkeypox is spread through prolonged close contact. That includes through direct contact with an infected person’s respiratory droplets, bodily fluids or sores, and is not very contagious in a typical social setting.

TPH added monkeypox can also be spread through bites or scratches from an animal and contact with contaminated clothing or bedding.

Canada’s public health agency said it is investigating about two dozen possible cases of monkeypox on top of confirmed cases in Quebec.

Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said on Friday the federal public health agency does not know how widespread the disease has become in the country. According to her, Canada is considering using the smallpox vaccine for monkeypox cases.

Monkeypox is a rare disease that comes from the same family of viruses that causes smallpox, which the World Health Organization declared eradicated around the globe in 1980.

Quebec’s Health Department, meanwhile, said on Twitter late Friday that five cases have been confirmed in the province, up from two on Thursday.

TPH asks anyone who came in contact with monkeypox to selfisolate and monitor for symptoms for 21 days after being exposed. They add people who think they have monkeypox should self-isolate and seek medical care.

NEWS | CANADA

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2022-05-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

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