Province identifies two new monkeypox cases in Ottawa

Public Health Ontario is reporting two new confirmed cases of monkeypox in Ottawa.

Twenty-three cases of the virus have been confirmed in the capital to date, the second-highest number of cases in any public health unit in the province behind Toronto. Ottawa’s first case was reported on June 10.

As of July 25, 326 cases of monkeypox had been confirmed in Ontario, up from 288 last Thursday. Of these, 250 are in Toronto. There are two confirmed cases in health units outside of Ottawa, one in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit and one in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark.

All but two of the confirmed cases in Ontario have affected men.

The hospitalization rate for monkeypox remains low, with 11 people hospitalized because of the virus to date. Ottawa Public Health would not comment on local hospitalizations, so it is unclear if anyone who has contracted monkeypox in the capital has been hospitalized because of it.

OPH says 1,396 vaccines for monkeypox had been administered locally as of Monday. More details about who is eligible for vaccination and where to get it can be found on OPH’s website.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by a virus found in some wildlife species of central and western Africa. In the past several weeks, it has been spreading around the globe, affecting more than 16,000 people in more than 70 countries. The World Health Organization has called the spread of the virus a global emergency.

Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, headache, exhaustion and a rash that often appears on the face and the extremities a few days after symptoms begin. The virus may transmit to another person through contact to exposed skin, the respiratory tract or the eyes, nose or mouth.