What's the threat of SARS now?
With all the lights, cameras and microphones clustered around her, Toronto's medical officer of health, Dr. Sheela Basrur, had the profile of a Hollywood star at the city's annual film festival.
Back in the spring of 2003, Toronto played a starring role in the spread of an emerging global horror, severe acute respiratory syndrome (better known by its infamous acronym: SARS), which was killing dozens of people. Basrur became the unwitting lead as the region coped with 44 deaths and a global travel ban that, by one estimate, cost Toronto's tourism industry $180 million in lost revenue. But eventually the disease waned, isolation wards closed, the news crews went home, and tourists returned.
And so goes the drama with other headline-grabbers such as mad cow disease, West Nile virus, bird flu and Lyme disease. When they fade from the headlines are they no longer a concern? Homemakers has tracked down these AWOL ailments to see what their status is now.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Stage name: SARS
Claim to fame
SARS first stepped onto the world stage in February 2003, finally reported months after being detected by health officials in China. From there, the viral respiratory illness spread to dozens of countries around the globe. More than 8,000 people were infected worldwide with 774 confirmed deaths, including the 44 in Ontario. Nonfatal Canadian cases also appeared in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. With life inspiring art, the outbreak eventually spawned its own made-for-TV movie, 2005's Plague City: SARS in Toronto, and a comedic play, SARSical.
Pathological portfolio
The first sign of infection is a high fever. Other flu-like symptoms follow, which can develop into severe breathing difficulties and, in the worst cases, complete respiratory failure.
Much like the common cold, the virus is transmitted via droplets from sneezes and coughing. (SARS may survive outside the body for hours, longer within bodily fluids.) But, unlike a cold, SARS kills about 10 per cent of infected people. And there is no vaccine for the illness. The best defence against contracting the virus is to follow standard cold prevention methods: wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your eyes and mouth.
Career comeback?
Despite the World Health Organization's initial concerns that SARS may be a new "seasonal illness," the virus appears to have gone into permanent retirement. "It does not seem to be re-emerging," says Dr. Rita Shahin, an associate medical officer of health for Toronto. The only subsequent outbreaks have resulted from laboratory accidents in Singapore (2003) and China (2004).
Click to continue to discover the status of mad cow disease...
Page 1 of 5
