Ontario Public Health says there are 367 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the province as of Thursday, up from 326 on Monday.
The agency’s latest report said most of the cases — nearly 78 percent — were reported in Toronto.
Almost all affected people are men, with only two reported in women.
Public Health Ontario says the average age of confirmed cases is just under 36.
The report said 11 people were hospitalized with the disease and two were in intensive care.
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It also says there are 12 probable cases, 10 of which are in men.
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Public health says most cases are among men who report intimate contact with men, but they say anyone can get monkeypox.
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Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, recently said monkeypox is likely to be around for “many months” because of the long incubation period, but noted that Ontario is not seeing rapid growth of the virus.
The virus usually does not spread easily and is transmitted by prolonged close contact through respiratory droplets, direct contact with skin lesions or body fluids, or through contaminated clothing or bedding.
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Common symptoms include a rash, oral and genital lesions, and swollen lymph nodes.
Monkeypox disease comes from the same family of viruses that cause smallpox, which the World Health Organization declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Smallpox vaccines have proven effective in fighting the monkeypox virus.
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Local public health units in Ontario are holding vaccination clinics for those the province deems to be at high risk of contracting monkeypox.
Moore said the province doesn’t want to expand its vaccination strategy right now because “it seems to be working.”
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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