National case definition: Mpox (monkeypox)

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• Preliminary surveillance case definitions for mpox (monkeypox) in Canada
  • Suspected case
  • Probable case
  • Confirmed case

Preliminary surveillance case definitions for mpox (monkeypox) in Canada

Suspected case

A person of any age who presents with one or more of the following:

1. An unexplained^{Footnote 1} acute skin rash or lesion(s)^{Footnote 2} AND has at least one of the following signs or symptoms
   • Headache
   • Acute onset of fever (>38.5°C),
   • Lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes)
   • Myalgia (muscle and body aches)
   • Back pain
   • Prostration/asthenia (profound weakness)
   • Fatigue
   • Pharyngitis (sore throat)
   • Proctitis (rectal inflammation/pain)
2. An unexplained^{Footnote 1}acute genital, perianal, anorectal and/or perioral, oral, or oropharyngeal rash or lesion(s)^{Footnote 2}

Probable case

A person of any age who meets the suspect case definition

AND

Has one or more of the following:

1. Has an epidemiological link to a probable or confirmed mpox (monkeypox) case in the 21 days before symptom onset
2. Has an epidemiological link to a location/event where transmission of mpox is suspected or known to have occurred in the 21 days before symptom onset
   An epidemiological link can be:
   • Face-to-face exposure, including health workers without appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE)
   • Direct physical contact, including sexual contact; or contact with contaminated materials such as clothing or bedding

Confirmed case

A person who is laboratory confirmed for mpox virus by detection of unique sequences of viral DNA either by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and/or sequencing.