The Vancouver Sun from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada • 13

THE VANCOUVER SUN. TUESDAY, APRIL 8, 2003 A13 GLOBAL VIRUS SARS under control in B.C., special clinic closed Monday China, Ontario report another SARS death WHO experts searching China for clues study whether there is a link to animals No new cases, no transmissions by 26 probable or suspected cases reported in B.C., while Ontario reports 10th death By PAMELA FAYERMAN Vancouver Sun over 38 degrees Celsius, a cough, difficulty breathing and travel to China, Hong Kong, Singapore or Hanoi within the past 10 days, plus close contact with SARS-confirmed cases. A case is defined as suspect if an individual meets some of the criteria; it is defined as probable if a person meets all of the criteria. Only four people seen at the SARS clinic met the criteria and were seen inside the clinic in its first three days of operation and none were suspected or probable cases, added Adams. Blatherwick said most SARS cases aren't severe enough to require hospitalization and the 23 individuals with suspected SARS are recovering or have recovered at home.

Referring to the fact that Ontario reported its 10th death from SARS on Monday, Blatherwick said that situation continues to worry health officials across the country. And with 3,000 air passengers landing at the Vancouver airport each day from Ontario, a heightened sense of alert is required. Another 1,800 travellers are landing in Vancouver each day from Asian countries, also a potential concern, because the situation there continues to be bleak. Blatherwick said three people in B.C. remain in hospital in serious but stable condition one each at Surrey Memorial, Vancouver General and the University of B.C.

hospitals. Of the dozens of individuals who were asked to isolate or quarantine themselves at home two weeks ago because of symptoms that developed after travel to Asia, or because of contact with people with symptoms, all are healthy and now beyond the quarantine stage. The quarantine was effected because of a two-week disease incubation period and concern over the possibility that such pie might spread the disease to others in the community. "We've got our fingers crossed with animal-health officials and discussed both farm animals and wildlife, including pigs, ducks, bats, rodents, chickens and other birds, said team leader Dr. Robert Breiman.

Experts have linked SARS to a new form of coronavirus, other forms of which usually are found in animals. Coronavirus is the virus family that causes the common cold. That link "may suggest that it originates from animals," Breiman said, but added that "the discussions today were inconclusive, so we really don't have clues." In Toronto, Canada's the death rose to 10, with an 11th death being investigated as a possible case of SARS, public health officials in Ontario announced Monday. The 10th patient died Sunday night in St. Joseph's Hospital in Toronto, said Dr.

Colin D'Cun-ha, Ontario's chief medical officer of health. The province now has 188 probable and suspected cases of SARS, he said. Meanwhile, Mount Sinai Hospital made public the fact that its director of infection control is recuperating in that hospital from SARS. Dr. Allison McGeer, one of Canada's leading infectious disease specialists, contracted the disease in the early days of the Toronto outbreak, while trying to trace the progress of infection threading through staff and patients at Scarborough Grace Hospital.

McGeer has been in Mount Sinai, in respiratory isolation, for the last week. "I'm the poster child for why you need to be complying with precautions," she said from her hospital room. "Because we know now that precautions work. And we know that we need to be using them. But we equally know that this is a really unforgiving organism." Associated Press and Canadian Press GUANGZHOU, China -China reported another death from severe acute respiratory syndrome and revealed Monday that fatalities in recent weeks have been more widespread than previously reported.

In the country's south, international experts were researching whether the mystery disease might have come from animals on farms or in the wild. Nationwide, the country's death toll was 53, state television reported, citing the Health Ministry. That included 43 deaths in the southern province of Guangdong, where experts suspect severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, originated. More than 2,300 people have been sickened worldwide. State television reported one SARS death each in the provinces of Shanxi in the north, Sichuan in the west and Hunan in central China the first reported fatalities in those areas and an indication the disease is more widespread than previously acknowledged.

China previously reported fatalities in Guangdong, Beijing and the Guangxi region to Guangdong's west. China's government has faced mounting criticism at home and abroad that it has released information about SARS too slowly. "It would have been much better if the Chinese government had been more open in the early stages," World Health Organization director general Gro Harlem Brundt said Sunday in New Delhi. WHO experts searching Guangdong for clues to how SARS spreads and why it kills were studying whether it might have come from animals. The team has not yet found clear evidence supporting the theory, but its members met Health officials declared Monday that SARS is under control in B.C., with no new cases being reported and no transmission of the disease to close contacts or the general community.

"We've got a breathing spell, for a minute or two," said Dr. John Blatherwick, chief medical health officer of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, which announced the closure of a special SARS clinic Monday after only four days of operation. Blatherwick's comments came after a quiet weekend on the SARS front, coupled with the fact that none of the original 26 probable or suspected cases have transmitted the mysterious SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) disease to family or other intimate contacts or health-care professionals, as has happened in Ontario. Meanwhile, the lack of cases prompted the Coastal Health Authority to close the SARS clinic that opened Friday at St. Vincent's Hospital Monday night.

As of today, Vancouver residents who think they may have contracted the virus are being urged to go to their doctors or to emergency departments. If emergency departments are suddenly overwhelmed by new cases, the health authority could reopen a stand-alone SARS clinic, with mobile and portable laboratory and radiology equipment, said Clay Adams, VCHA spokesman. "But, for now, we didn't see enough cases to warrant a specialized clinic. We've decided that there aren't rampant cases running around," said Adams, noting that only about 20 people a day went to the St. Vincent's clinic.

Fifty-four visitors to the clinic were first interviewed about their history and symptoms in a tent outside the clinic, but didn't even meet the screening criteria to advance inside the clinic. Those criteria included fever 1 ''w KYODO NEWSASSOCIATED PRESS An airtight containment unit for SARS cases Is unloaded from an ambulance In Tokyo on Monday. The disease has killed at least 100 people and sickened more than 2,400 people worldwide. that we will not see any community transmission and if this is a seasonal disease, then as we emerge from virus season, we may see suspected cases abate," said Blatherwick Added Dr. Shaun Peck, deputy provincial health officer: "We do believe we have SARS under control in B.C.

This is the 24th day of our public health response and we've been worrying about Toronto and learned a lot from Toronto," he said, referring to the need for health-care professionals dealing with suspected SARS cases to be scrupulous about wearing gloves and masks. As well, Peck said it would appear that people are infectious only after they develop a fever. Blatherwick said it is not necessary for ordinary people to wear a mask unless they are in places in Asia where SARS is prevalent. A Health Canada teleconference briefing Monday revealed that Ontario continues to be the hardest hit of the provinces. The B.C.

Genome Centre today begins working on a genetic sequence for SARS that could lead to a definitive diagnostic tool and a tailored treatment. "It is our hope that sequencing the genome of the virus responsible for SARS will reveal its identity, and provide the information necessary to enable rapid diagnostic tests," said Dr. Marco Mar-ra, director of the Genome Sequencing Centre. 0 0 A OB OB jj (R 0 11 IT a OB it ''itemed, nisi: ion i mmm: vi tv iui wuvt m3 MEET HARRY ROSEN AT PACIFIC CENTRE Wednesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 10 To schedule an appointment, call 604.683.6861 MEET HARRY ROSEN AT OAKRIDGE CENTRE Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12 To schedule an appointment, call 604.266.1 172 Special prices apply from April 6th until April 12th Meet and be fitted by the man himself. It is time once again for the Harry Rosen, J.P.

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