As of Aug. 12 the Ottawa Public Health (OPH) unit said there have been five mpox cases confirmed in the nation’s capital.
This is a rise from the two people confirmed in 2023 but significantly down from the 42 cases in 2022.
“While 5 cases of mpox infection so far this year does not represent a significant increase from a statistical perspective, OPH is monitoring the situation closely,” a spokesperson for the health agency told CityNews in an email.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared mpox, also known as monkeypox, a global health emergency, citing the outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa. Many cases are confirmed in the continent among children and adults with a new form of the virus spreading.
Although cases are lower in Ottawa, in Toronto cases have surged, with the local health unit reporting a higher number of cases from June to July than a year prior.
Of all the Ontario health units, Toronto accounts for 78.4 per cent of the cases across the province, with Ottawa reporting the second highest amount at 4.9 per cent of the population.
OPH is encouraging people to get vaccinated if they haven’t already.
What is mpox?
According to the OPH website, mpox is a rare viral disease usually found to be endemic in central and west Africa, however, in June 2022 the health unit confirmed its first case of the virus.
It can act similar to other infectious diseases like chickenpox or some sexually transmitted infections, such as herpes or gonorrhea.
Mpox enters the body through broken skin, eyes, nose or mouth, with symptoms typically lasting from two to four weeks, OPH said. In some cases people can develop health complications from the virus leading to severe outcomes.
“The mpox virus can affect anyone who is in close contact with an infected person such as direct contact with their body fluids, respiratory droplets, sores or by coming into contact with items they may have been in contact with,” the health unit said.
In Canada, only person to person contact is occurring, the website notes.
“In line with international trends, the majority of cases in Canada to date are men who reported intimate sexual contact with other men,” the health unit said. “However, it’s important to stress that the risk of exposure to the mpox virus is not exclusive to any group or setting.”
Symptoms of the virus include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes or new rash of lesions, which usually appear a few days after other symptoms on the face and extremities.
To check eligibility criteria for the mpox vaccine or to book an appointment visit the OPH website.