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http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/02/1048962786030.html
Two more killed by SARS disease in Canada
April 2 2003
A mystery illness from Asia with no known treatment has killed two more people in Canada, bringing the total to 64 dead worldwide from the pneumonia-like illness, health officials said today.
Ontario health authorities announced the deaths the same day that Canada's health minister acknowledged that little is known about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, but said proper steps have been taken to control its spread.
Meanwhile, an American Airlines flight from Tokyo was quarantined on the tarmac at San Jose's airport after five people on board complained of symptoms like those of the mysterious new illness spreading through Asia, health officials said.
Two passengers and two crew members, plus a fifth unidentified person, complained of symptoms similar to those found in severe acute respiratory syndrome - which has afflicted hundreds in Hong Kong and killed at least 64 people worldwide.
It was not immediately clear when the people became ill, only that they reported to the crew during the flight that they "think they may have SARS", said Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
Alexiou added that "we're pretty sure four of the five transferred from Hong Kong to Tokyo".
More than 1,600 cases of the illness have been reported so far worldwide, including 69 cases in the United States. None of the US cases was fatal.
Last week, evidence surfaced that SARS can be caught on airplanes. Hong Kong authorities said several tourists on a China Air flight caught the disease after flying with another SARS-infected passenger.
Singapore Airlines said an attendant was sickened after travelling on a recent flight that carried an SARS-stricken doctor, and officials in Connecticut said a suspected case there involved a college student who had gone overseas on spring break.
The World Health Organization urged airlines to question passengers at check-in and refusing to board those who might have the illness.
Also today, Syracuse University announced it had cut short its semester-long study-abroad program in Hong Kong and called the students back home because of worries over the illness. Fifteen of the program's 31 students are enrolled at Syracuse, the rest at other schools. Authorities in Massachusetts said a baby girl adopted in China was identified today as the third suspected case there.
SARS usually begins with a fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius, sometimes with chills and headache and body aches. After two to seven days, patients may develop a cough. Other symptoms can include shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing and pneumonia.
The federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommends postponing non-essential trips to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam. While some SARS cases have been reported in Canada, there's no sign of widespread community spread, so CDC isn't advising against travel to or from there.
In Canada, Health Minister Anne McLellan praised the response by health authorities in Ontario province and Toronto, the nation's largest city, where the majority of 129 probable or suspected cases have occurred.
She described plans to give information cards and questionnaires to international travellers at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as prudent, but said interviewing each of the 36,000 international travellers at the airport every day would be unworkable and unnecessary.
"We have no intention of shutting down Pearson International Airport," McLellan told journalists after a meeting of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Cabinet.
Health officers will meet flights from Asia to give arriving passengers information cards and get contact information. Officials believe the illness was brought in by air travellers from Asia.
McLellan said the latest information about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, indicated the illness could be two viruses intersecting in patients.
"We are learning more every day, but we still don't know very much about SARS," she said.
Chretien called the outbreak in his country "a very serious problem," but said "we should not panic. He said federal officials and local officials were working together to control it.
"We hope it is confined, but you never really know," Chretien said.
In Ontario, authorities have declared a health emergency and restricted access to all hospitals, where all staff, workers and visitors must wear masks and other protective garb. Hundreds who show symptoms or who might have been exposed to the illness have been asked to stay quarantined for 10 days.
Federal health officials say more than 100 probable or suspected cases are in Ontario, with others in Vancouver on the west coast, the prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick province on the east coast.
Probable cases are people showing symptoms who have recently travelled to Asia or been in close contact with other SARS patients. Suspect cases show symptoms, but have no travel or contact history. Some cases listed as probable or suspect have turned out to be other illnesses, such as ordinary flu.
SARS has killed almost 60 people worldwide and made ill more than 1,600, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong and China.
Toronto has the largest Chinese population in North America, about 400,000 people, and health officials have traced the arrival of SARS in the city to people who travelled to Asia.
AP
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/02/1048962786030.html
Two more killed by SARS disease in Canada
April 2 2003
A mystery illness from Asia with no known treatment has killed two more people in Canada, bringing the total to 64 dead worldwide from the pneumonia-like illness, health officials said today.
Ontario health authorities announced the deaths the same day that Canada's health minister acknowledged that little is known about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, but said proper steps have been taken to control its spread.
Meanwhile, an American Airlines flight from Tokyo was quarantined on the tarmac at San Jose's airport after five people on board complained of symptoms like those of the mysterious new illness spreading through Asia, health officials said.
Two passengers and two crew members, plus a fifth unidentified person, complained of symptoms similar to those found in severe acute respiratory syndrome - which has afflicted hundreds in Hong Kong and killed at least 64 people worldwide.
It was not immediately clear when the people became ill, only that they reported to the crew during the flight that they "think they may have SARS", said Joy Alexiou, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
Alexiou added that "we're pretty sure four of the five transferred from Hong Kong to Tokyo".
More than 1,600 cases of the illness have been reported so far worldwide, including 69 cases in the United States. None of the US cases was fatal.
Last week, evidence surfaced that SARS can be caught on airplanes. Hong Kong authorities said several tourists on a China Air flight caught the disease after flying with another SARS-infected passenger.
Singapore Airlines said an attendant was sickened after travelling on a recent flight that carried an SARS-stricken doctor, and officials in Connecticut said a suspected case there involved a college student who had gone overseas on spring break.
The World Health Organization urged airlines to question passengers at check-in and refusing to board those who might have the illness.
Also today, Syracuse University announced it had cut short its semester-long study-abroad program in Hong Kong and called the students back home because of worries over the illness. Fifteen of the program's 31 students are enrolled at Syracuse, the rest at other schools. Authorities in Massachusetts said a baby girl adopted in China was identified today as the third suspected case there.
SARS usually begins with a fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius, sometimes with chills and headache and body aches. After two to seven days, patients may develop a cough. Other symptoms can include shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing and pneumonia.
The federal Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommends postponing non-essential trips to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi, Vietnam. While some SARS cases have been reported in Canada, there's no sign of widespread community spread, so CDC isn't advising against travel to or from there.
In Canada, Health Minister Anne McLellan praised the response by health authorities in Ontario province and Toronto, the nation's largest city, where the majority of 129 probable or suspected cases have occurred.
She described plans to give information cards and questionnaires to international travellers at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as prudent, but said interviewing each of the 36,000 international travellers at the airport every day would be unworkable and unnecessary.
"We have no intention of shutting down Pearson International Airport," McLellan told journalists after a meeting of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Cabinet.
Health officers will meet flights from Asia to give arriving passengers information cards and get contact information. Officials believe the illness was brought in by air travellers from Asia.
McLellan said the latest information about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, indicated the illness could be two viruses intersecting in patients.
"We are learning more every day, but we still don't know very much about SARS," she said.
Chretien called the outbreak in his country "a very serious problem," but said "we should not panic. He said federal officials and local officials were working together to control it.
"We hope it is confined, but you never really know," Chretien said.
In Ontario, authorities have declared a health emergency and restricted access to all hospitals, where all staff, workers and visitors must wear masks and other protective garb. Hundreds who show symptoms or who might have been exposed to the illness have been asked to stay quarantined for 10 days.
Federal health officials say more than 100 probable or suspected cases are in Ontario, with others in Vancouver on the west coast, the prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick province on the east coast.
Probable cases are people showing symptoms who have recently travelled to Asia or been in close contact with other SARS patients. Suspect cases show symptoms, but have no travel or contact history. Some cases listed as probable or suspect have turned out to be other illnesses, such as ordinary flu.
SARS has killed almost 60 people worldwide and made ill more than 1,600, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong and China.
Toronto has the largest Chinese population in North America, about 400,000 people, and health officials have traced the arrival of SARS in the city to people who travelled to Asia.
AP
