Toronto Public Health (TPH) has confirmed two travel-related cases of a fast-spreading variant of the mpox virus.<\/p>\n
These are the first cases of the mpox clade Ib strain to be identified in Toronto and Ontario.<\/p>\n
This novel variant has been associated with outbreaks in parts of Central and Eastern Africa and has been identified in a small number of travel-related cases internationally, including in several European countries, the health unit said in a news release.<\/p>\n
Since 2022, mpox in Toronto has only involved the clade Ia strain of the virus.<\/p>\n
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, this new variant is \u201cless severe\u201d than clade Ia.<\/p>\n
While cases have been reported across Toronto, TPH has recorded higher numbers of mpox among residents of the downtown core. <\/p>\n
Last year, there were 155 confirmed cases of the virus in the city.<\/p>\n
What is mpox?<\/p>\n
Mpox<\/a> is a virus that spreads through person-to-person contact with infected lesions, skin blisters, body fluids, or respiratory secretions. <\/p>\n It can also be transmitted by contact with materials contaminated with the virus, like clothing or bedding, and through bites or scratches from infected animals. <\/p>\n At this time, the virus has spread mostly through close, intimate, or sexual contact with a person who has it. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are most affected, says TPH.<\/p>\n Both variations of the mpox virus have similar symptoms, including painful skin lesions, fever, and other flu-like symptoms. They can also both be prevented and treated in the same way, with vaccination being the best option, says TPH.<\/p>\n Vaccination best way to prevent mpox transmission: TPH<\/p>\n Toronto Public Health continues to offer eligible residents the Imvamune vaccine through its clinics and community partners. Vaccination is free and available without an OHIP card. <\/p>\n Two doses are recommended for optimal protection against both strains of mpox. <\/p>\n Those who have previously received one dose are partially protected but are encouraged to receive a second one 28 days after the first dose. Those who have already received two doses do not need additional ones. Appointments can be booked online<\/a> or at a local 2SLGBTQ+ health-care service provider.<\/p>\n People who have already received a smallpox vaccine are being encouraged to still get vaccinated for mpox, as they may not be protected.<\/p>\n A post-exposure treatment is also available for those who believe they have been exposed to the mpox virus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto Public Health (TPH) has confirmed two travel-related cases of a fast-spreading variant of the mpox virus. These…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":527447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[712,49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-527446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/527447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}