TORONTO — There are now five known cases of monkeypox in Toronto, with the city’s public health unit confirming three new cases of the virus.
Toronto Public Health updated the tracker on its website Thursday, showing five confirmed cases, and another five under investigation.
Toronto’s first case of the virus was confirmed on May 26.
Ten cases that were under investigation have been deemed negative.
Toronto Public Health says anyone who has been in close person-to person contact with someone who has monkeypox can catch the virus.
The close person-to-person contact includes respiratory droplets, direct contact with skin lesions or bodily fluids, or indirect contact through contaminated clothing or linens.
Health officials say that monkeypox does not spread easily between people and is not as transmissible as COVID-19.
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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2022.
