Toronto confirms 9 cases of monkeypox, 23 more under investigation

Toronto Public Health says the total number of confirmed cases of monkeypox in the city has reached nine.

As of June 9, the city's public health agency says 23 other cases are under investigation. On Thursday, TPH updated the tracker on its website indicating the new cases.

"We continue to monitor monkeypox activity in Toronto," TPH said in a tweet.

Across Canada, there are 98 confirmed cases in Quebec, at least nine in Ontario, two in Alberta, and one in B.C

Canada now has 110 confirmed cases of monkeypox, Health Canada's tracker shows. Nearly 780 lab-confirmed cases have been reported across 30 countries, largely among men.

The federal government has issued an advisory notice warning travellers to be extra careful when abroad because of the threat of catching the virus.

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, but it generally does not spread easily between people and is transmitted through prolonged close contact.

Toronto Public Health says the virus is not as transmissible as COVID-19.

It typically spreads from close person-to-person contact through respiratory droplets, direct contact with skin lesions or bodily fluids, or indirect contact through contaminated clothing or linens.

The health unit says symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and a rash that "often appears within a few days after symptoms begin.

"It starts on the face and spreads to other parts of the body," TPH notes.

Since the outbreak began in several countries around the world in early May, there have been no reported deaths.

WATCH | Montreal epidemologist Dr. Christopher Labos explains monkeypox outbreaks: 

Multiple outbreaks of monkeypox globally, says epidemiologist

2 years ago

Duration 3:31

The finding by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that that there are two distinct monkeypox outbreaks underway in the U.S. means the virus has likely escaped many times from Western Africa, says epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos.