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Toronto reveals SARS source
TORONTO, Canada (CNN) -- The WHO has put Toronto back on its list of SARS hotspots, as officials reveal the original source was a patient hospital officials did not initially link to the epidemic. The World Health Organization made its decision after receiving reports of eight more probable cases in Toronto -- two of which were fatal. Officials say the new cluster is linked to the original outbreak, and is most likely the result of a hospital transmission. All the cases have been traced to a 96-year-old man who died May 1 after two bouts with pneumonia that hospital officials did not link to SARS until the new cases emerged. Canada thought it had contained SARS and declared itself free of the disease a week ago but has found itself struggling with the largest outbreak outside Asia. In addition to the probable cases of SARS, 26 others have been classified as suspect, a WHO spokesman said. The WHO, however, is not recommending any travel restrictions on the city. Meanwhile, Taipei's health chief has resigned, taking the blame for the SARS outbreak in Taiwan's capital. Chiou Shu-ti is the third official to resign over SARS in Taiwan. Taiwan reported 11 new probable cases and four deaths Tuesday, according to the department of health, taking the death toll there to 76. Taiwan's center for disease control said Monday the latest figures suggest the epidemic is coming under control after a record rise of 65 cases Thursday. Last month's outbreak at a Taipei hospital was the source of most of Taiwan's SARS infections. China, the hardest-hit area in the world, reported its smallest one-day rise in new SARS cases since it began tallying figures. It counted two more deaths and another eight infections Monday. One of the deaths and five of the new cases were in hard-hit Beijing. While noting the falling number of new cases, Gao Qiang, China's executive vice minister of health, told local officials that the situation "remains grave," with prevention and treatment still "enormous and difficult," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Gao warned of a possible relapse, citing the large number of patients still in the hospital and suspected cases in quarantine, as well as weaknesses in rural prevention, as reasons to remain vigilant. The global death toll from SARS has pushed past 700. Although the WHO lifted an advisory against travel to Hong Kong and the southern province of Guangdong on Friday, the health body still advises against nonessential travel to Beijing and Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Tianjin, as well as to Taiwan. After marking its first day with no new cases on Saturday, Hong Kong said Monday that SARS had killed one person in the city and infected another. Just days after the lifting of the WHO's travel warning, the airport authority in the SARS-scarred territory of 6.8 million people said it would halve its landing fees for airlines during the next six months. (Full story) Hong Kong is one of the world's busiest airports, but many airlines have cut flights to the territory amid a drop in travel linked to the SARS outbreak.
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