- Canada has decided to screen international air passengers
for symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which has already
killed three people in Ontario.
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- That follows a recommendation by the World Health Organization
that passengers leaving from affected airports be asked if they have flu-like
symptoms, or if they have had any contact with anyone infected with SARS.
Anyone answering yes would not be permitted to fly.
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- Cities affected include Toronto, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Hanoi, Taiwan and Guangdong province, China.
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- Federal Health Minister Anne McLellan said health ministers
are working out details of the screening, to take place at Toronto's Pearson
Airport and Vancouver International Airport.
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- Also Thursday, Ontario health officials announced that
visits to hospitals in Toronto and Simcoe County are being severely restricted.
All visitors to hospital in those regions will be advised of the changes
through signs posted at the doors.
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- As well, hospital staff will be required to wear protective
clothing and masks. Patient transfers between hospitals have also been
suspended, as have volunteer programs.
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- The moves come after Ontario declared the spread of the
mysterious and potentially deadly respiratory illness a medical emergency.
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- "We don't have a roadmap on this and we have to
react to what's going on," Dr. James Young, Ontario Public Safety
Commissioner told reporters Thursday. "The problem we're facing is
that all the confirmed and suspected cases relate back to the original
cases at Scarborough Grace Hospital."
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- Hundreds of Canadians who visited the Scarborough Grace,
where two people died of the illness, have also been asked to voluntarily
"quarantine" themselves. Everyone who visited the hospital east
of Toronto since March 16 has been asked to stay at home for 10 days since
their visit and watch for symptoms.
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- "The risk to the general population is very low,''
said Young. "In fact, patients who are in hospital are getting better.
Risks are also minimized by taking precautions," such as frequent
handwashing, he said.
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- There are now 28 probable cases of the illness in Ontario;
14 of those are Toronto residents. There are also 10 suspected cases in
Ontario, 21 cases under investigation and another probable case
in Vancouver. Three Canadians have died.
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- Around the world, more than 1,400 SARS cases have been
reported from 15 countries, and more than 50 have died, according to the
WHO.
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- Possible cause
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- Earlier Thursday, scientists in Hong Kong said they had
identified the virus behind SARS. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention cautions that the Hong Kong findings are preliminary and
do not provide conclusive evidence that coronavirus is the cause of SARS.
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- The Hong Kong microbiologists say a new strain from the
family of coronaviruses is the SARS culprit, a common respiratory virus
that is also the second leading cause of colds in humans.
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- The virus appears to be a completely new strain that
may have originated from an animal virus. Southern China, historically
the source of many new virus strains, has been identified as the most likely
source of the disease.
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- "It appears to us the coronavirus is the primary
cause of the disease. It is possible of course that other viruses might
also infect the same patient and might increase the severity of the disease,"
scientist Malik Peirius told reporters.
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- The CDC and its partners are working to develop a new
test to look for evidence of coronavirus infection in patients with SARS.
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- The symptoms of SARS are similar to that of the flu --
a high fever along with a dry cough and difficulty breathing and spreads
through coughing and sneezing, and touching droplets from infected people.
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- But in order to be considered a suspected case, a patient
would need to have travelled within 10 days of onset of symptoms to one
of the Asian areas where SARS transmission is occurring (Guangdong province
in China, Vietnam, Singapore, or Hong Kong), or been in close contact with
a person who has been diagnosed with SARS.
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- High recovery rate
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- Infectious disease specialist Dr. Neil Rau told Canada
AM Thursday that most people who become infected will recover. "It's
not that fatal when you look at is at a population basis. It seems to be
about one in 30, maybe one in 25," Rau says.
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- "For those who recover, it's their immune system
taking care of it. It's not the treatment we're giving them. We have no
effective treatment," Rau points out.
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- "If you're in contact with a very severe form of
the disease -- the cases that have developed into actual pneumonia -- there
is a higher chance you'll get it than if you're in contact with someone
who has the early prodrome form of the disease," Rau adds.
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- "But we also know that those who have prolonged
household contact seem to have a much higher attack rate than someone who
just rode the subway with an infected person."
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- Rau says he supports the Ontario government's decision
to declare a "health emergency" over the outbreak.
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- "I think it's very serious and I think what are
perhaps viewed as drastic measures are very appropriate," Rau says.
"And in fact, if there's a political will, we might have to up the
ante further. What it might mean is, for example, is closing down an entire
hospital."
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- Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement says declaring the
illness outbreak an emergency gives the government the powers it needs
to contain the disease as soon as possible.
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- A public school in Scarborough has also been closed over
fears of the possibility of an outbreak after a number of students came
down with unexplained fevers.
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- The school is located just blocks away from Scarborough
Grace Hospital, where some of the initial cases of SARS appeared. The cases
at Scarborough Grace started in a family that had been travelling in Hong
Kong where they were exposed to the infection.
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- Residents in the Toronto area with concerns about SARS
can call the Toronto Public Health hotline at (416)338-7600. Other Ontario
residents who have general queries about SARS can call Telehealth Ontario
at 1-866-797-0000 to speak to a registered nurse who will have full information
about the symptoms.
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- In other SARS-related news:
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- * Hong Kong ordered quarantines of more than 1,000 people
who may have been exposed. Ten people in Hong Kong have died of the illness.
The government said anyone breaking the quarantine would be fined or jailed
for up to six months.
- * China revealed that the SARS outbreak has been much
larger than previously believed. A government spokesperson said that 34
people had died and about 800 people had become infected in Guangdong province.
- * The Rolling Stones said Thursday they are postponing
a pair of Hong Kong concerts
- * Singapore announced its first two deaths from SARS
Tuesday and later announced that all schools will close until April 6.
- * Health Canada urged Canadians planning trips to the
most affected parts of Southeast Asia to defer travel for the time being.
Those areas are Hanoi, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the Guangdong Province in China
and Singapore.
- * Stores in Toronto selling protective face masks are
trying to keep up with demand for the masks as the quarantine for SARS
expands.
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- With reports from CFTO, CTV's Avis Favaro and The
Canadian Press
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