Toronto officials investigating more cases of monkeypox

Toronto Public Health's offices at Dundas and Victoria St. in Toronto is seen on Monday, August 21, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

There are four monkeypox cases under investigation in Toronto, public health officials said Monday.

Toronto Public Health said that only one positive case of the disease has been confirmed so far. Eight other suspected cases have come back negative.

“No new lab-confirmed case have been reported since our last update,” officials said on social media, “We'll continue to keep the public informed.”

Toronto Public Health will update a new dashboard at 3 p.m. Monday to Friday.

As of Friday, there was one confirmed case and four probable infections. The first lab-confirmed case was announced on May 26 in a man believed to be in his 40s who had contact with someone who had recently travelled to Montreal. Officials said at the time the patient was “stable” in hospital.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health issued an order last week requiring health-care providers to report all possible or suspected cases of monkeypox to public health units.

• MORE: What does a suspected case of monkeypox mean?

Public health officials have said that monkeypox “does not generally” transmit easily from person to person. It’s spread primarily through contact with bodily fluids, but can also be transmitted following prolonged face-to-face contact.

Symptoms typically appear seven to 14 days after exposure and can include a fevered, muscle aches, swollen lymph notes, and a rash or lesions. A person is considered infectious from five days before the rash begins until the lesions have started to scab and fall off.

Officials say the infection is rarely fatal.