Posted on 04/23/2003 3:59:49 PM PDT by Brian S
Canadian officials have lashed out at the World Health Organization for including Toronto among the places travelers should avoid because of the spread of the pnuemonia-like viral illness from Asia, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Geneva-based WHO issued its latest advisory Wednesday as death tolls from the disease surged past 100 in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Travelers have carried SARS from southern China to 26 other countries and territories around the world. The disease has killed at least 251 people and brought disaster to tourism-dependent economies.
The worst outbreak outside of Asia is in Toronto, where at least 15 people have died.
Wednesday, government officials in Canada's largest city angrily dismissed the travel advisory as an overreaction. A local medical officer, Dr. Sheela Basrur, said the outbreak is contained in Toronto's hospitals. Mayor Mel Lastman dared WHO experts to travel to the city and see proof.
But a WHO official, Dr. David Heymann, chief of communicable diseases, said the U.N. health agency has evidence that Toronto has not contained the disease. He said several new cases in another country have been traced to an infected traveler from Toronto. He did not identify the country.
WHO urged travelers put off all unnecessary travel to Beijing and the northern Chinese province of Shanxi as well as Toronto.
The advisory follows a similar warning earlier this month that travelers should avoid Hong Kong and the province of Guangdong - where the SARS outbreak is thought to have begun last November.
This latest World Health Organization travel advisory will be in effect for at least three weeks.
In Beijing, where some 700 people are sick and 35 have died, city officials said they will quarantine anyone suspected of having SARS or being exposed to the virus. They also promised to restrict access to hospitals, hotels, schools and other buildings where there are infections.
In Hong Kong, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced a $1.5 billion relief package to try to help ease the financial strain of SARS in the Chinese territory.
Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
Maybe in Toronto, but worldwide this thing is still growing. Over 500 new cases reported in the last 2 days alone. That's not peaked.
Toronto's mayor is doing the absolute worst thing. He is panicking over the potential economic impact and any community that does that and attempts to suppress the illness statistics is going to make the spread that much worse.
By the way CDC upgraded it's deathrate to 6% overall with death rates of up to 10% or more in some countries.
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