Health officials in Ontario are urging public health units to conduct testing for monkeypox, the viral disease formerly known as monkey pox, amid a sharp rise in confirmed cases in the province.

According to a report released on Tuesday, Ontario has seen 26 confirmed monkeypox cases since mid-January.

In the entire year of 2023, only 33 cases were reported.

About 77% of the cases were identified by the Toronto Public Health Authority, while the remaining infections were identified in Ottawa, Peel, and Halton.

Mpox is a viral disease that causes a rash or lesions. Other symptoms include fever, chills, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, headache, and sore throat.

Symptoms can appear between five to 21 days after infection. It usually spreads through close direct contact with an infected person, including intimate or sexual contact. It rarely leads to death.

In 2022, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency after hundreds of cases appeared worldwide.

In Ontario, more than 600 cases have been reported, mostly among men.

Among the 2024 cases, all were identified in men except for one case, and almost all were unvaccinated.

In a press release issued earlier this week, Toronto public health officials noted that the virus previously affected gay and bisexual men, as well as men who have sex with other men.

There is a two-dose vaccine that helps prevent the spread of monkeypox and helps reduce symptoms. The vaccine doses, called Imvamune, should be taken over 28 days.

The vaccine should be available at clinics that provide sexual health care.

The Ontario Public Health Authority is asking local health units to encourage two-dose vaccination for those eligible.

Infectious disease specialist Isaac Bogoch told CP24: "It is important to note that cases have not disappeared."

"There are now more cases than there were at this time last year, and it is still spreading, and eligible people who haven't received the vaccine yet should go out and get it."

In Ontario, eligible individuals are limited to "Two-Spirit, non-binary, transgender, genderqueer, bisexual, or individuals who identify as gay or have sexual partners who identify as gay, bisexual, or pansexual." and other men who have sex with men communities.

These individuals within these communities also need to have a confirmed sexually transmitted infection within the past year, or have or plan to have two or more sexual partners, have attended venues for sexual contact, or engaged in anonymous sex.

The Ontario Public Health Authority indicates that the data represent confirmed cases and are subject to "degrees of underreporting due to a variety of factors."

These factors include disease awareness, changes in laboratory testing, and medical care behaviors.