A rchive Date
[ 07-10-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2005/10/01/1244299-cp.html
Legionnaires' behind outbreak
By KEITH LESLIE
October 6, 2005
TORONTO (CP) - A mysterious outbreak at a nursing home that claimed 16 lives and stoked international fears about the safety of Canada's largest city was likely caused by legionnaires' disease, a form of pneumonia, public health officials said Thursday.
Autopsy results showed at least three of the deaths at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged were directly linked to the disease, said infectious disease expert Dr. Donald Low, who gave briefings almost daily during Toronto's 2003 SARS crisis.
"We'll continue to look for other possibilities, but we feel pretty confident . . .we're dealing with legionnaires' disease," Low said.
Further autopsy results are pending, but Low rejected suggestions officials had been too slow in determining the cause of the deadly outbreak. He said dozens of urine tests for legionnaires were done early on, but all came back negative, and it wasn't until the autopsies were completed Thursday that legionnaires was confirmed.
"It's difficult to grow in the laboratory, it's difficult to isolate in patients," he said.
Legionnaires' disease is named after a severe outbreak of pneumonia that affected a meeting of the American Legion in Philadelphia in 1976.
The Toronto outbreak remained confined to the nursing home, and there have been no further deaths, said David McKeown, the city's medical officer of health.
"We have a lot of sick people in hospital still, so I'm not going to make any predictions about further deaths," said McKeown.
"I don't think we'll see new cases because we're going to be treating everybody," added Low. "Somebody may well be incubating the disease, but once now they're on antibiotics, that should - hopefully - prevent any further disease."
Mayor David Miller also sought to reassure residents and potential visitors that the outbreak is under control, and never spread beyond the walls of the nursing home.
"This disease cannot be transferred from person to person," Miller said. "There is not - and there never was - a threat to the general population of Toronto. This disease is environmental, it is not contagious."
Legionnaires' disease has never been found to be transmissible between patients. It is transmitted by inhaling infected water particles in the air from cooking, ventilation or hot-water systems, McKeown said.
"This illness is a form of pneumonia, caused by bacteria found naturally in the environment, usually in water," he said.
Bottled water will be brought in for the staff and residents of Seven Oaks to use for drinking and bathing until an investigation determines how the deadly bacteria spread through the nursing home.
The disease usually affects middle-aged or elderly people and more commonly hits those with respiratory problems. Officials, however, were at a loss Thursday to explain why so many people died in a single outbreak.
"We don't know what happened," Low admitted.
Symptoms of legionnaires sometimes include fever, chills, fatigue, headache, aching muscles and loss of appetite.
Most cases can be successfully treated with antibiotics, although older people with other conditions are more likely to become seriously ill and die.
Toronto Public Health says an average of four to 10 cases of legionnaires' disease are reported in a non-outbreak year.
Speaking Thursday in Quebec City, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty urged people not to worry about international reports claiming the outbreak was a threat to the general public and to listen to the medical experts.
"My message to Ontarians, our friends here in Quebec and right across North America is listen to the scientists who are telling us this has been contained," said McGuinty.
Earlier Thursday, Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman tried to fend off mounting fears of the outbreak being something more serious, saying Toronto is "open for business" and remains a safe place to live, work and play.
"This is not SARS, and this is not avian flu," Smitherman said. "It is a tragedy, but it is contained."
Smitherman called the outbreak "significant in scale," but said it was important to realize similar outbreaks happen in nursing homes around the world on a fairly regular basis.
He bristled at reports that international media outlets were describing Toronto as a "hot zone" and "ground zero" for respiratory illnesses.
"They have a desire to provoke a certain reaction from their audience," he said. "I think that language is a bit rich in the circumstance."
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