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| WHO: Toronto travel warning necessary to curb SARS |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-25 13:04:57 |
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Responding to Canada's criticism over its decision to issue a travel warning in Toronto, the World Health Organization has explained that the advice is necessary to prevent the further spread of SARS.
Elsewhere in the world, SARS prevention has become a health emergency, ensuing stricter screening measures, especially for air passengers.
WHO spokesman Klaus Stohr, speaking from Geneva, said the Toronto outbreak originated with one case, and that the WHO warning is necessary to prevent a similar situation from developing elsewhere.
"Only a small number of cases have been exported from Toronto, for instance to the Philippines as well as Australia, now the outbreak began with one case. One case which was exported to Toronto from another country and there are now more than 100 people infected. Now we have to follow up each and every individual case which is being exported from the infected areas to avoid another Toronto occurring somewhere else," the spokesman said.
According to the WHO, Canada has become the worst－affected area outside Asia, with 16 deaths from SARS so far, all in the Toronto area. With SARS now looming on the US border, the threat of the disease seems all too real to some New Yorkers. With the belief that in large cramped cities like New York, SARS could spread rapidly, panicked citizens are consulting their doctors with a deluge of phone calls. According to the latest figures from the US Center for Disease Control, there have been 239 SARS cases reported in the US.
For people with constant fear of contracting SARS, the story of a recovered patient could offer some help. In the UK, Lin Thomas, who contracted SARS during a stopover in Singapore, said the disease affected her with little warning.
Lin Thomas, a recovered SARS victim, said: "Very dramatic. I went to bed perfectly well one night. This is when I was back in the UK. I'd been back here for a few days. I just woke up the next morning struggling to breathe, hardly able to stop coughing, totally unable to go about and do anything I'd normally have been doing. "
Meanwhile, Dr Anne Bridgen, a microbiologist from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland says there is no reason to think the mortality rate, which is around four percent, will increase.
Some industry analysts in Asia point out that passenger screening measures introduced by countries such as Thailand have been effective, but should be standardized across the region. They suggest to take a host of measures, from passenger screening to special baggage handling procedures, to help stop the disease.
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Editor: Xiao Wei CCTV.com
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