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SUSAN DENZTER: Today's warning by the World Health Organization against
non-essential travel to Toronto is the latest blow to a city hit hard
by SARS. Dozens of local health care workers have contracted the disease
from sick patients. As a result, several hospitals had to shutter wards
and turn away patients. Business has slumped at Toronto hotels, as visitors
scared off by SARS have cancelled conventions and trips. Last weekend,
worshippers attending Easter services scrubbed their hands and adopted
a no-contact form of taking communion. Meanwhile, many Toronto residents
exhibiting SARS symptoms have gone into isolation or quarantine at city
officials' urging.
DR. JAMES YOUNG: If you are feeling ill or have a fever, do not go
to work, do not go to school, do not go out in the community.
SUSAN DENTZER: The extreme measures stem from the fact that Canada
has recorded the highest number of SARS cases of any country outside
Asia. To date, there have been 136 probable SARS cases, and Canadian
health officials are monitoring another 131 possible ones; 16 people
have died. The vast majority of cases have been in Ontario Province,
where Toronto is located. Most can be traced to a single patient, who
contracted the disease in late February at a Hong Kong hotel. The patient
died after returning to Canada and spreading SARS to close contacts
back home. Canada's SARS woes have been watched nervously by U.S. officials.
DR. JULIE GERBERDING: Of course we know the border with the U.S. is
an open border, and we have so many visitors back and forth that, of
course, we're concerned that there is a potential for exposure.
SUSAN DENTZER: In fact, up to half a million passengers travel to the
U.S. each month from Toronto's Pearson Airport. And the bridge and tunnel
connecting Detroit with Windsor, Canada, is the busiest land border
crossing in the world. To date, only one of America's 39 probable SARS
cases appears to have contracted the disease in Canada. He's a Pennsylvania
man who attended funeral services for a Canadian SARS victim in Toronto,
and then drove home. To help stem any further spread of the disease
into the U.S. from Canada, the CDC yesterday announced its own set of
warnings to travelers. Unlike the World Health Organization, the CDC
is not recommending that travelers avoid any non-essential trips to
Toronto. Instead, it's advising them to avoid Toronto-area hospitals,
to wash their hands frequently, and monitor their health closely for
ten days after returning to the U.S. And as they have been doing for
more than a month with passengers traveling from Asia, U.S. officials
will soon begin handing out these yellow health alert cards. They'll
be given to people coming into the U.S. at Canadian border crossings,
or boarding U.S.-bound flights in Toronto.
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