Officials warn more Sars deaths likely

TORONTO - Medical officials have warned there could be more deaths as the Sars virus continues to spread at some Toronto hospitals.

There were no new confirmed Sars cases yesterday but doctors were monitoring at least 20 hospital workers for possible infection.

Doctors warned there would be more infections in coming days in the city, where more than a month had passed without any new Sars cases, raising hopes that Toronto's fight with the flu-like illness was nearly over.

Dr Allison McGeer, chief of infection control at Mount Sinai Hospital, said there was "no doubt that more people are going to die in this outbreak".

A recent cluster of 34 probable and suspect cases and three more deaths prompted the World Health Organisation yesterday to put Toronto back on its list of Sars-affected areas, just 12 days after it was taken off.

More than 1400 people were in quarantine, but doctors said there was no cause for alarm in the city.

"We have no evidence that Sars has spread to the general community," said Dr Barbara Yaffe, associate medical officer of health for Toronto.

There have been 290 probable and suspect severe acute respiratory syndrome cases in Ontario since the virus hit the province in mid-March. As of yesterday, there were 52 people being monitored in hospitals or at home for the disease.

The Toronto area, with 27 deaths, is the only place outside Asia where the virus, which originated in southern China, has claimed lives.

Doctors said they were still trying to figure out the source of the new cluster of cases, first reported at the weekend.

A team from the United States Centres for Disease Control is expected soon to help fight the spread of Sars in hospitals.

WHO's designation of Toronto as an area where Sars was spreading drew concern from businesses. But the United Nations agency stopped short of re-issuing advice that travellers stay away.

"It is a very unfortunate turn of events," said Rod Seiling, president of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, which expects to record a drop of at least 20 per cent year on year in hotel occupancy levels in May.

* Meanwhile, scientists in Hong Kong and mainland China have developed a potential vaccine for Sars which they will soon test on animals, a microbiologist on the team said.

Laboratories worldwide have been racing to find a cure and a vaccine for the disease, which has infected over 8200 people around the world, killing 729.

Guan Yi, an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, said the team will soon test the vaccine on monkeys.

"We cannot tell when the vaccine will be safe or effective in humans."

He could not say how long the experiments would take.

Guan said scientists had cultured the Sars virus in their laboratories and will kill or inactivate it for the tests.

"We will then see if the cultured virus will stimulate the production of antibodies," Guan said.

The presence of antibodies would theoretically provide some measure of immunity against Sars, which is caused by a member of the coronavirus family, which also causes the common cold.

Experts have said it would take years before any such product could be made commercially available, if at all.

* Taiwan reported 11 new probable Sars cases and said four more people had died from the virus. Its total infections rose to 596 from 585, the third-highest after China and Hong Kong.

- REUTERS