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2007

Sunday 15 July 2007 The Chinese military surgeon who revealed the true scale of Beijing's SARS outbreak in 2003 has reportedly been forbidden to leave China to accept a human rights award. Jiang Yanyong was praised as an honest doctor by Chinese media after he wrote a letter to journalists saying that Beijing had more than 100 unreported cases of people with the SARS virus. The revelation was followed by embarrassing official admissions and the firing of a cabinet minister. The 76-year old Mr. Jiang has been awarded the Heinz R. Pagels Human Rights of Scientists Award by the New York Academy of Sciences. The Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy says his work unit will prevent him from leaving China to accept the prize in September.

Friday 12 January 2007 maisonneuve.org HANDS CLEAN
The National and the Globe lead, while CTV News, La Presse, the Post, the Citizen and the Star go inside with memories of the SARS outbreak in 2003.  Yesterday, Justice Archie Campbell released his final report on findings from the recent epidemic, entitled “Spring of Fear.” Forty-four died out of the 375 people in the Toronto area who contracted SARS, 45 percent of those infected were health care workers. The Star acknowledges that the Ontario government has taken steps to prevent this from happening again, by making the chief medical officer of health more independent, by increasing the province’s share of public health funding and by introducing legislation to establish a health protection and promotion agency. Campbell’s 1204-page report states that Canadians “are not yet as safe as we should be.” The Citizen also makes reference to the relatively benign SARS outbreak in British Columbia to compare the efficacy – or lack thereof – of Ontario’s reaction to the disease. The Globe's Murray Campbell suggests that the other Campbell’s report is “a little too neat.” He argues that by blaming the system, responsibility is orphaned rather than justly assigned to the succession of politicians who slashed hospital funding—notably leading to job cuts in the government's infectious-disease lab just eighteen months before the outbreak—and to the specific civil servants and administrators who should have known enough about infection control, communications systems and workers' rights to deal more effectively with the epidemic.

Friday 12 January 2007 TORONTO: SARS REPORT MAKES RECOMMENDATIONS
Toronto's outbreaks of SARS in 2003 were likely not preventable, the final report of a provincially appointed commission said Tuesday. But the report says more could have been done to protect the safety of health-care workers. The Ontario Ministry of Labour was sidelined during the outbreaks that killed 44 people in the Toronto area. The 1204-page report called Spring of Fear called for the ministry to play a lead role in future infectious disease outbreaks. The report by Justice Archie Campbell says having occupational health experts involved in containing the outbreaks would have helped protect hospital workers. The report said hospitals are as dangerous for workers as mines and factories, and the courage of front-line health workers saved the province from a worse disaster.

2005

Friday Oct 7, 2005 rci Health officials have revealed that the probable cause of 16 until now mysterious deaths in a home for the aged is legionnaire's disease. The officials say that the bacterium that causes the disease has been found in the bodies of three of the elderly victims. Earlier, Ontario's health minister, George Smitherman, sought to allay fears that the city was headed for another health crisis by offering assurances that the outbreak was neither SARS nor bird flu. A SARS outbreak in the city two years ago killed 44 residents and caused huge losses to the city's tourism industry. Legionnaire's disease is caused by inhaling infected water particles from cooking or ventilation systems. The disease isn't transmissible between patients.

Wednesday Oct 5, 2005 nyt Where the SARS Virus Hides
Scientists appear to have found the source of the mysterious SARS epidemic, which emerged from China in late 2002 and killed almost 800 people around the world.

Wednesday Oct 5, 2005 ts U.S. seeks tighter mad cow defences
WASHINGTON—Seeking to close a gap in the United States' defence against mad cow disease, the Bush administration yesterday proposed banning cattle parts in feed for all animals — including chickens, pigs and pets.

Monday Oct 3, 2005 ts SARS lessons useful for virus
Toronto's experience with SARS in 2003 has helped it deal more effectively with a mysterious respiratory virus that has killed four residents of a Scarborough nursing home, doctors and public health officials say.

Sunday Oct 2, 2005 ts FLU-LIKE ILLNESS KILLS 4 AT NURSING HOME
The news that four Toronto nursing home residents have died from an unknown flu-like illness has shocked a city still shaken by the SARS outbreak.
But.....SARS ruled out in T.O. deaths
Public health officials are investigating the deaths of four people from a "typical respiratory illness" at an east-end senior's residence, but say the outbreak is not SARS

SARS

Wednesday Aug 24, 2005 ts Ontario must answer to SARS victims: Judge
Nurses are hailing it as a "major decision," and the families of SARS victims say they may finally get the answers they've been looking for now that lawsuits against the Ontario government have been given the green light.

Monday Jul 11, 2005 ts SARS researchers find a silver lining
OTTAWA—A research team headed by a star scientist who left Toronto three years ago for greener pastures in Europe has announced a promising lead for treating SARS and several other deadly lung afflictions.

Monday Jul 11, 2005 rci TORONTO: RESEARCHERS MAKE DISCOVERY THAT COULD FIGHT SARS
Researchers from Canada, China and Austria have made what they say is an important discovery in understanding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS. They determined how the SARS virus leads to acute lung failure in laboratory animals. The virus uses a particular protein called ACE2 as a means to invade the body. Researchers say that the significance of their discovery could extend beyond SARS to other diseases that attack the lungs. Two years ago, a SARS outbreak in 29 countries killed 774 people, including 44 in Canada. The discovery was announced in Beijing by the research team leader, Dr. Josef Penninger, formerly of Toronto's Princess Margaret Hospital, now head of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna.

Thursday Jul 7, 2005 rci Meanwhile, the prime minister, Mr. Martin, raised the beef issue on the sidelines of the G-8 summit with his Japanese counterpart, Mr. Koizumi. Japan was one of the countries which also banned Canadian beef two years ago. Mr. Martin failed to persuade him to reopen them. Mr. Koizumi explained only that Japanese have an acute awareness of food safety. Both prime ministers did agree that their countries will co-operate more closely in combating such disease as bird influenza and SARS. Japan culled 25,000 chickens after a bird-flu outbreak on a poultry farm last month, while a outbreak in Canada last year affected dozens of farms.

see W-N's Hong Kong

Tuesday Apr 12, 2005 rci A second interim report on the state of health care in Ontario has been made public. Justice Archie Campbell's report addresses areas of concern that arose during and after the SARS outbreak in 2003. Forty-four people in the Toronto died and hundreds fell ill of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Justice Campbell's report says that the health-care system needs more professional and financial resources, because in their absence legislative changes will remain "empty promises." The report also recommends that the system be under the direct authority of Ontario's chief medical officer. Justice Campbell also suggests that that officer have the power to intervene in the early stages of an outbreak like SARS so as to give hospitals orders and to have arrested individuals who refuse to obey them.

Thursday Apr 7, 2005 rci A lawyer representing the federal government has denied it has any responsibility for the SARS outbreak in the Toronto area, in an application by a plaintiff to launch a class-action suit. The plaintiff is a nurse who contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in the second phase of the outbreak. She contends that municipal, provincial and federal health authorities relaxed their vigilance after the first phase waned, failing to realize that SARS remained present and dangerous. The nurse is suing all three levels of government for $600 million. But the federal lawyer argued in Ontario Superior Court on Wednesday that while the federal government has a medical responsibility to monitor ports of entry, it has no responsibility for infection protocols and hospital-based illnesses. The SARS outbreak killed 44 Canadians.

Saturday Mar 26, 2005 ts
SARS found spread by air
A new Toronto study has found evidence that the SARS virus may spread through the air, not just human contact, making it far more contagious than previously thought.

Wednesday Jan 26, 2005 cbc
CHINA PREPARING FOR RETURN OF SARS Health officials in China's Guangdong province are strengthening medical surveillance amid fears severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS, could return.

Friday Jul 9, 2004 ts SARS claims political casualty
HONG KONG—SARS has claimed its first political casualty here with the belated resignation of the physician-turned-politician who lost the public`s confidence by mishandling the outbreak.see Hong Kong

Monday Apr 26, 2004 ts
China quarantines 500 to halt SARS
BEIJING—Nearly 500 people were in quarantine in China`s capital and a southern province today as officials raced to contain a small eruption of SARS before a holiday puts millions of travellers on the road.

Wednesday 10 Mar 2004 ts SARS spread by vents in masks: Study A Toronto research team`s discovery that the use of oxygen therapy on SARS patients may have helped spread the virus is "a weapon in the fight against any type of infectious disease," says a doctor who was closely involved in combating last year`s outbreak.

Tuesday 24 Feb 2004 cbc
NURSE FILES $600 MILLION SARS SUIT A nurse in Toronto has launched a $600-million lawsuit against the Ontario and federal governments for damages caused by the SARS outbreak of 2003.

Wednesday Jan 28, 2004
CHINA 10TH ASIAN COUNTRY TO REPORT BIRD FLU China is now the 10th Asian country to report the avian flu virus in its bird population China's news agency says bird flu has killed ducks in the southern province of Guanxi.

Sunday Jan 18, 2004 cbc
CHINA CONFIRMS 2 MORE SARS CASES China confirmed Saturday that two suspected SARS patients have the disease, bringing the total number this year to three.

2004 now for the birds

Losing a livelihood Thailand's farmyards become graveyards as bird flu spreads Tuesday Jan 27, 2004

Tuesday Jan 27, 2004 CANADA WANTS TRADE SANCTIONS IMPOSED ON U.S. The European Union and six countries, including Canada, Japan and Brazil, have asked the World Trade Organization for permission to impose trade sanctions against the U.S. The parties want the WTO to grant permission to raise their customs duties on a range of American products. The higher duties would be aimed at punishing the U.S. for maintaining the "Byrd amendment," which enables the U.S. government to pay out some of the revenues it collects for alleged unfair trade practices, such as dumping, to American competitors that complained about them. The WTO ruled the "Byrd amendment" contravenes international trade rules and gave Washington until Dec. 27 to alter it.

2003

Sunday Jan 18, 2004 CHINA
The Chinese government Saturday confirmed that two suspected SARS patients in southern Guangdong province have the disease. The two -- a 20-year-old restaurant waitress and a 35-year-old businessman -- were identified as suspected cases earlier this month. China's official news agency said the woman has been discharged from hospital and all the people who had contact with her have been removed from medical observation without showing any symptoms. It said the businessman was in stable condition. The season's first confirmed case, a 32-year-old television producer, was released from the hospital last week.

Friday Dec 26, 2003 cp
NEW SARS CASE SUSPECTED IN CHINA China may have its first new case of SARS, the respiratory illness, in more than six months.

Thursday Dec 18, 2003 cbc
TAIWAN SARS CASE LEADS TO QUARANTINE
Health officials in Singapore have quarantined 70 people who may have come in contact with a Taiwanese lab worker with SARS.

Thursday Dec 18, 2003 bbc
Taiwan announces new case of Sars
Taiwan confirms its first case of Sars since the country came off an international list of infected areas in July.
...man, 44, might have contracted the pneumonia-like disease on 5 December during an experiment on Sars.

Monday Dec 15, 2003 cbc
HONG KONG PROBING WHY SARS CONCERTS TANKED
Hong Kong's leader has set up an independent panel to review how officials handled a problem-plagued concert series that featured the Rolling Stones and was aimed at reviving the territory after the SARS outbreak.

Saturday Nov 15, 2003 MONTREAL: ANOTHER SARS OUTBREAK INEVITABLE
A Canadian expert in tropical diseases says that in this era of global travel it is inevitable that Canada will be hit by another outbreak of SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Last spring and summer, two separate outbreaks in the city of Toronto led to 44 deaths. Dr. Kevin Kain, director of the tropical disease unit at Toronto General Hospital, said frequent air travel in and out of Canada by people from around the world makes Canada an ideal site for another epidemic. And he expressed doubts that China has taken the necessary steps to stop SARS from emerging again. The virus that causes SARS originated in a province of China.

Sunday Nov 9, 2003 WINNIPEG: SARS SCIENTISTS WILL TEST MONKEYS SOON
Eight monkeys at Winnipeg's National Microbiology Lab will soon be infected with the SARS virus. Researchers in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Hamilton have developed potential SARS vaccines. But the Winnipeg lab is the only Canadian facility sophisticated enough to prevent workers from getting accidentally infected. The monkeys will be infected with SARS by injection, drops in their mouths and throat spray. If they get sick, scientists will monitor the progression of the disease and humanely kill the animals, probably at the peak of infection. Scientific director Frank Plummer says a successful vaccine trial will take six months. He says it will be at least another two years before a vaccine could be approved.

Tuesday Oct 21, 2003 TORONTO: SARS OUTBREAKS FACTOR IN POOR TOURISM REVENUES
A study shows that this year's outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome were a factor in far lower tourism revenues. The KPMG consulting firm reached that conclusion after studying tourism revenues in six Canadian cities. They are Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver and Niagara Falls. The firm's study says tourism revenue in those cities fell by more than $1 billion between March and October, Toronto suffering more than one-half of that loss. All 44 SARS deaths occurred in the Toronto area. However, KPMG says other factors also affected tourism revenue adversely. The study mentions the war in Iraq, the strength of the Canadian dollar, the power blackout last August, forest fires in Western Canada and a hurricane in the east. KPMG says the tourism situation has begun to improve in the past two months.

Wednesday Oct 8, 2003 TORONTO:
NEW PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY WOULD ORGANIZE EFFORTS AGAINST SARS
In the aftermath of the deadly SARS crisis in Canada earlier this year, there is a recommendation now for the creation of a new public health agency and a call for more money, $700 million, to train much-needed health professionals. The report by the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health also points out many systemic deficiencies during the outbreaks, deficiencies uncovered a decade ago by another working group but ignored by government. The government of Canada has already signalled its willingness to support a national public health agency.

Wednesday Sep 17, 2003 bbc
DOCTORS, NURSES SLAM GOVERNMENT AT SARS INQUIRY The Ontario government was blasted on Monday, at the opening of public hearings into the SARS crisis.

Wednesday Sep 24, 2003 TORONTO: SARS CONTAGION OVER
Health authorities in Canada's biggest city, Toronto, have declared the two outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome officially over. The authorities say the last victim of SARS has recovered from it, although the person must remain in hospital to be treated for other health problems. Forty-four people died of SARS earlier this year, all of them in the Toronto area. The two outbreaks caused severe damage to the city's tourism industry.

Wednesday Sep 17, 2003 bbc
MCGILL DOCTOR TESTS POTENTIAL SARS DRUG During Toronto's second SARS outbreak, a scientist in Montreal closed in on a promising treatment for the respiratory disease.

Thursday Sep 18, 2003 cbc
GOVERNMENTS BUNGLED HANDLING OF SARS: DOCTOR Canada's handling of the SARS crisis was an "international embarrassment," according to the chair of the National Advisory Committee on SARS.

Monday Sep 15, 2003 SINGAPORE
Government officials say US laboratory tests have confirmed that a Singapore medical researcher has the potentially fatal SARS disease. Twenty-five people who came into contact with the man are quarantined at home although none has SARS symptoms. The World Health Organization is sending two experts to Singapore to investigate the two laboratories where the victim worked and probably caught the virus.

Friday Sep 12, 2003 cbc
DOCTORS WORRY ABOUT SARS FALSE ALARMS As the cold and flu season approaches, health officials worry that anyone who sneezes will ask to be tested for SARS.

Tuesday Sep 9, 2003 bbc
	Singapore man 'has Sars' Singapore's health ministry says results confirm a man has contracted the first case of the disease in five months.

Friday Sep 5, 2003 cbc
GENETIC TESTS NARROW DOWN SOURCE OF SARS Scientists in Hong Kong say SARS may have jumped from animals to people. Genetic tests indicate a SARS-like virus infected animals sold as delicacies at a Chinese market.

Wednesday Aug 13, 2003 cbc
ONTARIO DIPS INTO RESERVES TO COVER SARS COST The Ontario government says it has had to withdraw $1 billion from its reserve and contingency funds because of the impact of the SARS crisis.

Friday Jul 18, 2003 Now Playing: SARS - The Tour!
Thousands of people a week are flocking to Beijing’s newest tourist attraction – a decommissioned SARS hospital.
More than 1,000 people in one day alone visited the Xiaotangshan Hospital, where most of the Chinese capital’s SARS victims were treated and where many died.
The makeshift hospital, set up in eight days to accommodate nearly 700 patients at the peak of the outbreak in May, sent its last patients home in June.
According to the Beijing Morning Post, it’s been included on a package tour of urban Beijing costing $5 a head.
Tourists are shown the wards, told stories of how doctors and nurses battled the deadly virus and can buy photographs of medics in capes and masks treating infected patients.
Apart from being a tourist attraction, the hospital is being kept on standby in case there is a fresh outbreak of the virus.

Sunday Jul 13, 2003 TORONTO: FIGURES SHOW MILLIONS LOST BECAUSE OF SARS The SARS outbreak has severely affected Canada's tourist industry. New figures show that between March and June tourism dollars spent in Toronto were down $278 million from the same time last year, and there was a 40 per cent drop in the number of American visitors at major Toronto hotels. The Art Gallery of Ontario, the Toronto Zoo, the Ontario Science Centre and the CN Tower all saw significant drops in attendance. Some facilities have been forced to make program cuts and to layoff staff because of the lack of tourists. But Toronto was not the only Canadian city affected by the SARS fallout. Since early March, Vancouver's tourism income was down $9.3 million, Montreal's off $6.9 million and Calgary's down $5.3 million. In Niagara Falls, there was a 50 per cent reduction in American tourists in May and June, over the same two months last year. Tourism officials hope that new events, like the Rolling Stones' concert on July 30th, will motivate people to visit Toronto.

24 June, 2003 bbc Toronto gets Sars all-clear The World Health Organization says the Canadian city is clear of Sars, making Taiwan the only remaining hotspot.

24 June, 2003 bbc Sars sows doubts among jubilant Chinese

Wednesday Jun 25, 2003 cbc TORONTO TO GET SATISFACTION OF STONES CONCERT The Rolling Stones are coming to Toronto to help banish the SARS blues. The rock band will play a concert in Toronto on July 30.

Wednesday Jun 25, 2003 cbc WHO LIFTS BEIJING SARS TRAVEL ADVISORY In another sign that SARS is being beaten, the World Health Organization lifted a travel advisory against Beijing on Tuesday.

Tuesday Jun 24, 2003
	Beijing gets Sars all-clear The World Health Organization lifts its travel warning for Beijing - the last area still on its Sars travel blacklist.

Monday Jun 23, 2003
	Hong Kong declared Sars-free Hong Kong is given the all-clear from the deadly Sars virus after it goes 20 days without a new case.

Sunday Jun 22, 2003 China Saturday reported its 14th consecutive day with no new cases of SARS. So far, 347 people have died from the virus, and Hong Kong is on the verge of being declared SARS free. The territory Saturday was into its 19th day with no new infections, clearing the way for The World Health Organisation to remove it from a list of SARS-affected areas. SARS has killed 296 people in Hong Kong.

Friday Jun 20, 2003 ts SARS relief 'outrageous'
Ontario rejects 'inadequate, insulting' offer from Ottawa Province's health bill hits $1.13 billion, and mounting

Friday Jun 20, 2003 TORONTO: ONT. REJECTS FEDERAL SARS AID OFFER
The Canadian province of Ontario has rejected an offer by the federal government of an aid package to help Ontario deal with the costly repercussions of the SARS outbreaks. Ontario's municipal affairs minister, David Young, had a meeting there on Thursday with the federal defence minister. John McCallum is also a local member of Parliament. Mr. McCallum offered Ontario $250 million immediately and $100 million more after further discussion. Mr. Young rejected the offer with indignation, calling it "outrageous." The provincial minister says the Ontario is entitled to hundreds of millions of dollars of aid under the federal disaster relief program.

Wednesday Jun 18, 2003 cc
Sars 'contained' say experts
The World Health Organization has announced that the Sars epidemic is being contained, but says the fight against the virus is far from over.

Monday Jun 16, 2003 cc
WHO warns not to let guard down Countries must remain on guard against SARS even though the disease is being brought under control globally, a top World Health Organization official said. A second SARS outbreak in Canada last month "shows us that nowhere can we let down guard."

Exported case of SARS?
Thursday, June 12, 2003 -- Toronto just moved a step higher on the WHO's SARS black list and tonight we have details on the reason why. It is the case of a north Carolina man, who caught the disease in Toronto and now may have sparked an outbreak in his home state. Remember, exporting cases is a big factor in the WHO slapping travel advisories on cities. Another hit Toronto's economy cannot afford. Global National's Carl Hanlon has details on the case that's spooking the WHO.


Toronto off WHO travel advisory list for now
Tuesday, June 10, 2003 -- The size of a possible new cluster of SARS patients from a dialysis clinic in a bedroom community east of Toronto was reduced to 12 from 15 on Tuesday. But officials of the hospital chain involved revealed they are investigating two recent deaths in another hospital under their administration.

Friday Jun 13, 2003 MONTREAL:
CENTRAL BANK SAYS MEDICAL CRISES HURTING ECONOMY
The governor of the Bank of Canada, David Dodge, warns that the SARS and mad cow disease crises are slowing economic growth in Canada. Mr. Dodge says the SARS outbreaks in Toronto, Ont., are not just hurting tourism in Canada's largest city but in the rest of the country as well. He added that the outbreak of mad-cow disease, that has struck the beef industry will also have a negative effect across the country. The central bank also says the unexpected rise of the value of the Canadian dollar in trading against its U.S. counterpart also is having a depressing effect on the economy because it makes Canadian exports more expensive. An expert cited by the Canadian Press news agency says Mr. Dodge's speech in Montreal indicates that the central bank won't raise interest rates anytime soon. In the past year, the bank has been raising interest rates by increments of .25 per cent to check inflation. Mr. Dodge concluded his address by saying he expects growth next year because of the strength of Canada's domestic market and a recovery of the U.S. late this year and next.

Wednesday Jun 11, 2003 cbc
SEVEN CLEARED OF SARS, BUT NEW QUARANTINES IN PLACE Almost half of the patients at a Toronto-area dialysis clinic who were suspected of having SARS have been cleared of the disease, public health officials said Wednesday. But doctors are watching people in two long-term care facilities after some residents showed signs of respiratory illness.

Wednesday Jun 11, 2003 cbc
AIRPORT SCREENING INEFFECTIVE AGAINST SARS Health officials say SARS screening at airports hasn't detected a single case, although 14 people with the illness have entered Canada and three have left.

Saturday Jun 7, 2003 TORONTO:
ONTARIO SAYS SARS COSTS ARE STAGGERING
Canada's province of Ontario says the two outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome have cost the province a hefty $923 million in additional health care costs since the first of the two outbreaks in March. Ontario health minister, Tony Clement, has accused the federal government dragging its heels in helping the provincial government deal with the situation. Mr. Clement says Ontario needs an immediate "disaster down payment" of $150 million. The minister says that if the SARS outbreaks don't constitute a disaster, he cannot imagine what does. Earlier, the federal government announced $17.5 million to promote foreign tourism. Ten-million-dollars will be spent to promote Toronto, Canada's biggest city, and the remaining funds the rest of the country. Mr. Clement says he's pleased by the announcement but that the money doesn't do anything to help Ontario absorb the huge health care costs due to SARS. The federal transport minister, David Collenette, accuses Mr. Clement of politicizing the issue. And the federal industry minister, Allan Rock, says the question of disaster relief is still under discussion in Ottawa.

Sunday Jun 1, 2003 bbc Singapore success against Sars
'Bed chains' for Canada Sars violators
People in Toronto may be "chained to a bed" if they break strict Sars quarantine rules, a top official warns.

Sunday Jun 1, 2003 bbc Singapore success against Sars
Despite the WHO announcement, health officials remain vigilant Singapore has been declared Sars-free by the World Health Organization.
From Saturday, the country is being removed from the WHO's list of areas affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Medical officials praised Singapore's handling of the outbreak and its prompt and open reporting of cases, saying other countries could learn from its example.
Meanwhile, China and Hong Kong reported four more Sars fatalities each on Saturday, bringing their toll respectively to 332 and 278 people.

Saturday May 31, 2003 bbc Toronto Sars scare grows
The number of people believed to have Sars in Toronto leaps, while thousands more are quarantined.

Wednesday May 28, 2003 SARS MAY HAVE ORIGINATED IN OUTER SPACE
Reports say SARS may have originated in outer space. According to the Lancet medical journal, astrobiologists estimate that a ton of bacterial material, which may contain pathogenic bacteria and viruses, drops to Earth from space every day. Small amounts of the SARS virus may have fallen to Earth near the Himalayas where the stratosphere is thinnest. The unusual nature of major epidemics, where infection rates and deaths can't be explained by epidemiological modeling, have led researchers to look for alternative theories. So far extraterrestrial origins of new diseases haven't been considered. newsletters--canaccord.com

Wednesday May 28, 2003 nyt
SARS Makes Beijing Combat an Old but Unsanitary Habit
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
In its battle against severe acute respiratory syndrome, China is tackling a unique challenge: spitting.
"No one would dare spit in here these days — you'd get fined a lot and no one's paying wages," explained Mr. Liu, who declined to give his full name but said he had recently been laid off because SARS had decimated his restaurant's business. "In the past no one cared. You spat where you liked. But with SARS everyone's paying a lot of attention."

Wednesday May 28, 2003 TORONTO: WHO PUTS CANADA BACK ON SARS ALERT LIST The World Health Organization has put Canada's biggest city, Toronto, back on its list of areas affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Disease. The WHO took the move after eight new probable cases of SARS were revealed on Sunday. However, the WHO says the latest development isn't serious enough to advise travellers to avoid visiting Toronto. Last month, the organization issued a travel warning for Toronto. It remained in effect for less than a week but nevertheless has devastated the city's tourism industry. The WHO requires places on its SARS-affected list to screen outgoing airline passengers for symptoms of the disease to try to stop its spread. Canadian health officials at Pearson International Airport in Toronto are now using thermal scanners to check both outgoing and incoming passengers for SARS. The chief medical officer of the province of Ontario, Dr. Colin D'Cunha, says there are now 11 active probable cases of SARS in the province. Twenty-four people in Ontario have died of the illness this spring.

Tuesday May 27, 2003
	Toronto back on WHO Sars list World health chiefs put city on a list of Sars-hit areas, but health officials say the outbreak is being contained.

Tuesday May 27, 2003 SARS OUTBREAK RAISES NEW CONCERNS IN TORONTO Health officials say there are eight new probable SARS cases linked to the original SARS outbreak in Toronto. The eleven new cases are among the 34 patients currently being investigated. The cases announced Sunday were the first new probable cases recorded in the city since April 19. Officials say the course of the disease and its rapid spread, especially among health-care workers and close family contacts, leaves no doubt that Toronto's SARS outbreak is alive and again affecting health-care facilities across the city. The officials say the general community is not at risk. Several Toronto hospitals are closed or partially shut down because of new clusters of infections among patients and some health care workers. And authorities more than 800 people are in voluntary quarantine and thousands more are being asked to contact Toronto's public health offices to be assessed. Officials also say Toronto will likely return to the World Health Organization's of affected areas. Another person died from SARS on Saturday, bringing to 27 the number of people who have died from SARS in Canada. All the deaths have been in the Toronto area.

Saturday May 24, 2003 BBC
	Sars toll still rising Five more people die from Sars in China and two in Canada - but for the first time Hong Kong reports no new infections.
	Miracle baby 'grew in liver' A healthy baby has been born after developing in her mother's liver instead of in the womb.
	Birth injuries investigated Doctors are looking at why some babies suffer brain injuries, breathing problems or slow heart rates at birth.

Saturday May 24, 2003
Fifth case in potential SARS case under investigation
A fifth person is under investigation as a potential SARS case in a possible new cluster of the disease to hit Toronto, a development that prompted the Centers for Disease Control to reissue its travel alert on the city. If it turns out the woman, who had some SARS-like symptoms in early May and has since recovered, had the disease, her case will both answer some puzzling questions about the troublesome new cluster and pose others, Dr. Donald Low, a key member of the SARS containment team, said Friday.

SARS and Air Travel | W-N on Mad Cow

Friday May 23, 2003 cc
CDC reissues T.O. alert By HELEN BRANSWELL New SARS crisis sparks political mudslinging Health Canada launches West Nile service

Tuesday May 20, 2003CHINA WARNS SARS SPREADERS COULD FACE EXECUTION China is threatening to execute or impose a life sentence on anyone who breaks quarantine orders and deliberately spreads SARS.

Tuesday May 20, 2003CHINA SUSPENDS FOREIGN ADOPTIONS Canadians planning to adopt children from China are being told to put their travel plans on hold after the Chinese government suspended foreign adoptions to prevent the spread of SARS.

Thursday May 15, 2003 bbc China threatens Sars death penalty
China threatens Sars victims who flee quarantine with the death penalty, drawing condemnation from human rights activists.

Friday May 9, 2003 TRAVEL REPORT

Friday May 9, 2003 TORONTO: SARS NOT OVER, BUT ALMOST
One of the doctors who has played a major role to fight the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Disease in Toronto, Canada's biggest city, says the virus is still lingering in the city's hospitals but that the outbreak is almost at an end. Dr. Donald Low, the chief of microbiology at Mount Sinai Hospital, says there are still sick people in hospital but that they don't threaten anyone except their health care workers. Dr. Low says it would be premature to declare Toronto disease-free only two weeks after the last case, adding that the World Health Organization requires there be no new SARS cases for 20 days for a place to be declared disease-free. The WHO issued a warning to travellers for Toronto in April but lifted it a week later after Canada provided new information about the outbreak. There have been 327 probable and suspects cases of SARS in Canada, 263 of them in Toronto. Forty-two people are still in hospital. Twenty-three people died.

Friday May 9, 2003 TORONTO: NEW TEST FOR WEST NILE
The central Canadian province of Ontario has announced it will start using a new test to check people for West Nile virus. Health officials say the new test will enable them to discover whether someone is infected with West Nile within three days. The tests will be carried out in laboratories in the province. And they will hire 26 new employees to carry them out. Until now, West Nile tests were conducted in the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Man., which led to long delays in receiving the results. The provincial government rejected on Thursday accusations that the new test could have been developed sooner if the government hadn't cut the budget for its scientific laboratories.

Thursday May 1, 2003 nyt
The Cost of SARS SARS is not just a health problem. As fear and shutdowns curtail travel, it is devastating the Asian economy. ...SARS raged out of control in China not only because officials suppressed the bad news, but also because China's public health system is in ruins. Sanitation in food stalls — where the virus might have first jumped to humans — is atrocious, and hospitals failed to practice basic infection control. China also needs a better disease surveillance system. Cheap, rudimentary measures would have paid for themselves many times over.

WHO's plan to jump start Iraqi health system
2 May 2003 -- Responding to an urgent need to re-build and revitalize Iraq's health system, WHO is emphasizing the need to "jump start" hospitals and health centres countrywide. WHO estimates that US$20 million per month is required to help keep the country's damaged health system functioning.
Press release | Health situation in Iraq

Thursday May 1, 2003 ec
SARS and the economy While the SARS outbreak seems to have peaked outside China, its economic effects continue to ripple across Asia and beyond

Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary
On the Economics of SARS - April 30, 2003
Other weekly commentaries

Wednesday Apr 30, 2003 GENEVA, TORONTO: WHO LIFTS TRAVEL ADVISORY The World Health Organization has withdrawn its travel advisory for Toronto because of the outbreak in Canada's biggest city of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The head of the WHO, Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, health and scientific considerations alone had led the organization both to issue the advisory last Wednesday and to withdraw it on Tuesday. Last week, there were allegations in Canada that the WHO was trying to make the country a scapegoat to placate China, where SARS is assumed to have originated. Mrs. Brundtland conceded that the WHO may have erred last week in imposing a three-week warning for Toronto, in light of the fact that the last new case in the general community was recorded on April 9. Back in Canada, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told the House of Commons that the government will reimburse people who missed work because of SARS, but for the time being cannot reimburse business because of the huge task of deciding which businesses deserve it.

SARS over in Canada

Monday Apr 28, 2003 globe Worst of SARS over in Canada, WHO says Worst of SARS outbreak deemed over in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, although it is spreading in China

Sun, 27 Apr 2003 cbc SARS claims 21st victim in Toronto

Rex Murphy on Toronto could use a Moses, but it gets a Mel

April 25th 2003 ec

China and SARS China finally wakes up to the SARS epidemic, which may herald much more profound changes

April 23, 2003
SARS
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