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the virus believed to cause SARS, however, there is now a sense that despite a death toll and caseload
that continues to mount, the momentum of the battle against the
disease has turned in favour of health authorities.
About 30 scientists at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre set
aside their regular cancer research for the past week and worked
around the clock to unravel the genetic code in what the World Health
Organization calls ''an extraordinary step,'' and in a speedy timeline
that most experts say is unprecedented.
''It all worked better and faster than even we had expected,'' said
Dr. Robert Holt, head of sequencing at the B.C. research centre, which
has posted its findings on its Web site to help scientists and health
researchers around the world who are struggling to contain the
contagious disease.
Dick Thompson, of the WHO, said the pace of tracking this emerging
disease has been incredible: "If you want to compare it to the last
emerging disease, you have to compare it to AIDS. It took three years
to find the cause of AIDS and HIV. It took eight days to find the
cause of this disease."
The B.C. team completed the first publicly available sequencing for
the coronavirus, which is linked to the common cold and is the leading
candidate for causing SARS, at 4 a.m. on Saturday.
Dr. Holt said he expects that scientific and health authorities were
immediately using the new information to produce a non-invasive
diagnostic test, requiring only a saliva sample, which will quickly
determine whether a potential patient has SARS and help in segregating
those affected by the disease.
The sequencing of the genome may also help scientists explain how the
virus, which is one of many that causes colds, mutated into something
so deadly.
More than 3,000 people in 30 countries are believed to be suffering
with the known SARS symptoms of a very high fever, difficulty
breathing and a dry cough. There was a sharp jump in deaths in Hong
Kong yesterday, bringing the total to 40, and suggesting the disease
is still far from being contained in the Asian city that has been
hardest hit by SARS.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said it could soon ground its fleet
if the situation gets any worse, with reports the company is losing
US$3-million a day from reduced passenger numbers.
In Canada, the nationwide total of probable and suspected cases is
283, including the 13 deaths, making it the place most severely
affected by the outbreak outside Asia.
The vast majority of those cases, 232, and all of the deaths, have
occurred in Ontario. There have also been cases scattered throughout
the country, in British Columbia (39), Alberta (five), Prince Edward
Island (four), New Brunswick (four) and Saskatchewan (one).
The Canadian cases have been concentrated in the Toronto area, which
had another hospital close its doors because of the disease over the
weekend.
Markham-Stouffville Hospital, north of the city, closed its emergency
department after it was inundated with SARS patients who would
otherwise have visited two facilities already forced to close their
doors because of the disease.
Scarborough Grace Hospital and York Central Hospital have both been
temporarily shut down by SARS, and even the Markham hospital has 12
SARS patients in isolation, including two in critical condition.
Dr. Donald Low, chief of microbiology at Mount Sinai Hospital, said
closing emergency is sometimes the only way hospitals can cope with
the double burden of increased patient overflow and fewer staff on
hand because of the sickness.
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