http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/02/health/02CND-SARS.html?ei=5070&en=5807ab2f76d5f6ba&ex=1059537600&pagewanted=print&position=

SARS Under Control in Toronto, World Health Agency Says

By KIRK SEMPLE

he World Health Organization removed Toronto from its SARS watch list today, leaving Taiwan as the only place where the organization said the virus had evaded full control.

Toronto received the all-clear from the W.H.O after 20 days had passed without a new case of the respiratory illness, which has infected more than 8,400 people worldwide and killed more than 800 since it first emerged in southern China late last year.

"This is a great achievement for public health in what we hope is the final phase of the global emergency," David Heymann, the W.H.O.'s executive director for communicable diseases, said in a statement today.

Toronto was among the first areas affected by SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, after the illness moved out of China in late February and spread around the world.

There have been 252 cases of SARS diagnosed in Canada and 38 deaths from the illness, according to the W.H.O. The outbreak's epicenter in Canada was Toronto, where more than 27,000 people were put in quarantine, according to news agency reports.

The organization posted a travel advisory for Toronto on April 23 and advised travelers to avoid all but essential travel to the city. The warning was lifted six days later but not before crushing the tourism industry and costing thousands of hotel and restaurant workers their jobs.

Until today, the city remained on the W.H.O.'s list of areas with recent local transmission.

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada celebrated today's news in Prague, where he was participating in Vancouver's bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

"It's over, so I hope that the people will return in great numbers to the great city of Toronto," Mr. Chrétien was quoted as saying by news agencies.

On June 24, the W.H.O. declared that Beijing had effectively conquered SARS. The Chinese city did not get its first case of SARS until March, but it quickly became the world's most heavily infected area, with more than 2,500 cases and 191 deaths.

Taiwan today reported no new SARS cases for a 17th consecutive day, the island's Center for Disease Control said. The total number of infections on the island was 676, while the death toll was unchanged at 84, the agency said.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company