The Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario said a third toddler has been diagnosed with a rare polio-like disease.
Officials said a male toddler was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis, a rare disease that causes paralysis, in mid-December.
This is the third case the hospital has seen since the summer.
In a statement to CTV News, Dr. Asif Doja, chief of neurology at CHEO, says, "Parents should remember that AFM is a very rare condition. They shouldn't worry or change how they care for illnesses with common cold or flu-like symptoms, like fever and aching muscles, as there is no way to predict AFM. Parents will absolutely know when to go to the hospital because the symptoms of this extremely rare disease are dramatic and concerning."
Not much is known about acute flaccid myelitis but doctors have determined that it is not polio - even though the two disease have similar symptoms.
Signs of the disease include paralysis in one or more limbs, face drooping, eye movement difficulty and slurred speech.
Most of the accute flaccid myelitis cases in Canada since 2014 have presented themselves in children.
Health Canada says there have been 66 cases of accute flaccid paralysis this year. This is almost twice the normal yearly average that falls between 27 and 51 cases.
Health officials recommend frequently washing your hands, keeping common areas clean and avoiding close contact with other sick people to avoid contracting the disease.
