U.S. to warn road travelers to Ontario about SARS
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - Road travelers between the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario will be warned about the risk of the SARS virus, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel alert for Ontario, where the incurable viral disease has killed 14 people out of the suspected 316 cases across Canada, and sent a team to help Canadian health authorities protect nurses, doctors and technicians from the virus.
CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding told a news conference the alert was not advising against travel but that travelers should be aware of the risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and perhaps to avoid hospitals.
Americans were being advised, however, to avoid travel to affected parts of Asia such as China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. "These travel advisories are saying please avoid nonessential travel," Gerberding said. "We can't exactly predict where cases might be."
The CDC has been distributing fliers to air travelers between the United States and affected areas, telling them to keep a lookout for symptoms of SARS such as fever, muscle aches and a dry cough.
Similar pamphlets will go to road travelers headed to and from Ontario, Gerberding said.
They include bridges linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, with Fort Erie, Ontario.
It will take a while to get the materials prepared and distributed, Gerberding said. "If all goes as we planned, we should be able to initiate this later this week," she said.
ISOLATING SUSPECT CASES QUICKLY
The hope is to isolate and treat suspected SARS patients as soon as possible. The United States, which has 39 "probable" SARS cases, hopes that approach is limiting the epidemic.
"We are sobered by ongoing transmission in some parts of the world, including Hong Kong, where very, very appropriate steps have been taken and yet the epidemic continues to evolve there," Gerberding said.
"The last thing that we can do at this point in time is relax and say 'Thank goodness we don't have very many probable cases in the United States.'"
SARS has killed 236 people and infected nearly 4,300 in 25 countries. Health officials say the mortality rate has risen from about 4 percent to 5.9 percent.
"We may see the mortality rate go up as we go forward," Gerberding said. "That is in part because the definition of SARS will become more precise as we begin to utilize more lab tests," she added.
If patients now suspected to have SARS are found to have other infections instead, that will make the SARS death rate statistically higher, Gerberding said. But if people are found to be perfectly healthy but carrying the virus, that could lower the relative mortality rate.
What it did not necessarily mean was that the virus had mutated to become more dangerous, Gerberding said.
The CDC has easy advice for travelers who want to reduce the risk of catching SARS. "To protect against SARS infection, wash your hands frequently," it advises.
"To minimize the possibility of infection, you may wish to avoid close contact with large numbers of people as much as possible. CDC does not recommend the routine use of masks or other personal protective equipment while in public areas."
(( -- Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Peter Cooney; Washington newsroom 202 898 8300, fax 202 898 8383, e-mail washington.bureau.newsroom@reuters.com))