Article content Health officials in Toronto issued a call this week for eligible residents to get vaccinated against mpox, following and concerns that cases are continuing to increase around the world. While there is no similar call in B.C.
at this time, mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is still active. Mpox is a rare viral infection first discovered in 1958 among monkeys kept for research. The first human case was recorded in 1970 in a nine-month-old boy in the Congo.
Since then, mpox cases have been reported in several African countries, including Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, mostly in rural, rainforest regions. Historically, mpox is typically limited to Africa. Cases outside the continent are rare and usually linked to international travel or imported animals, usually rodents.
That’s why the new rash of recent cases in Europe and North America in 2022 triggered concern. As of July 30, 2024, the B.C.
Centre for Disease Control had recorded 225 confirmed cases within the province since it began tracking the disease. This follows an outbreak in 2022 that was officially declared over in January 2023. The majority of those were reported in the Vancouver Coastal Health area (174), while Fraser Health had just 34 cases.
Island Health reported nine cases, Interior Health reported seven, and there was just one case in the Northern Health region. In Toronto, a spike in cases was recorded in June and July of this year, followi.