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May 30, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“In Ontario, 5,000 Are Put Under Quarantine”

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (05/30/03) P. A1; Brown, DeNeen L.

Ontario has ordered over 5,000 people into quarantine, and health officials there have reported 33 new probable cases and 29 suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).  The new outbreak has raised concerns that the disease could spread again, and medical officers say that if those under quarantine violate it, they can be locked in hospitals.  Ontario commissioner of public safety James Young says that the outbreak can be contained if people wash their hands and obey quarantine, and if medical investigators can track the cases.  The source of the outbreak is not known, but the death of a 96-year-old man is under investigation; he was a silent SARS case because he did not show the usual symptoms of the virus that causes the disease.  Hospital workers believe that the first outbreak was never eradicated and that this outbreak is a resurfacing of the first one.