'Belligerent' Canadian Puts Hundreds at SARS Risk

Reuters ^ | Monday April 21, 2003 | Rajiv Sekhri and Jeffrey Hodgson

[Willie Green]

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

TORONTO (Reuters) - A health-care worker who is probably infected with the deadly SARS virus could have put hundreds of people at risk after he refused to obey a voluntary quarantine request and became "obnoxious" and "threatening," Ontario health officials said on Monday.

The man, whose name officials did not disclose, should not have attended a funeral or church services over the Easter weekend, Dr. Hanif Kassam, medical officer of health for the region of York, just north of Toronto, told a news conference.

Kassam said the man acted irresponsibly and may still not be taking the matter seriously. Ontario has quarantined nearly 7,000 people -- usually as a voluntarily precaution -- in its bid to rein in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a pneumonia-like illness that originated in southern China.

"My staff made me aware late (Sunday) night that this individual was obnoxious, was threatening. He was belligerent. I find that highly inappropriate," he said.

Kassam added that he may request a written order from a judge to make certain the man remains in quarantine.

The case was the second in two days in which an Ontario health-care professional may have exposed others to the SARS virus.

Officials said on Sunday that a nurse working at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, who is suspected of having SARS, rode a commuter train from Burlington, just west of Toronto, and could have infected those around her.

Mount Sinai said in a statement on Monday that although the nurse had a slight fever and a headache she did not fit the description of a probable SARS case. She was admitted on Tuesday to the hospital as a case under investigation.

SUSPECTED 15TH DEATH

Canada is the only country outside Asia where people have died of SARS, which has killed at least 209 people worldwide, most of them in China and Hong Kong. The flu-like virus has infected nearly 3,900 people in 25 countries and is being spread by travelers.

In Canada there have been 14 deaths, all in the province of Ontario. Health officials are also investigating the April 13 death of a 46-year-old woman in the Philippines who may have contracted SARS in Toronto.

"There are some pieces that suggest that it may not be SARS after all. There are some elements of the investigation that are still under way, but it's not conclusively ruled that it was a SARS case in the first place," Dr. Sheela Basrur, Toronto's medical officer of health, told a news conference.

As of Monday, Canada said there were 316 probable or suspect SARS cases in Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island.

Ontario officials said on Monday the number of probable and suspect cases in the country's most populous province had risen to 259, an increase of six from Sunday. It said 129 people have been discharged from hospitals in Ontario.

The scare has hurt tourism in Toronto, with hotel workers saying its impact has been worse than that of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Canada's biggest city has seen canceled conventions, a drop in public transit use and dwindling sales in its Chinatowns. Several countries, including Australia and Ireland, have told their citizens not to visit Toronto.

[Pharmboy]

No one has died from SARS in the U.S., as compared with Canada's 15 who have died from it.

Then it must be genetic. ;-)

[travelnurse]

19:57 Apr-21-03, 19 Nisan 5763
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=42282

Israel Leading The Way In SARS Virus Detection

(IsraelNN.com) As concern over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) grows worldwide, Israeli technology is leading the way in the race to develop a method of quickly detecting the presence of viruses that cause such illnesses. Such rapid and early detection will go a long way towards helping to slow their spread in the future.

Integrated Nano-Technologies, a leading US company, is now using Israeli technology developed at the Haifa Technion as the backbone of a new DNA based testing system called BioDetect that will rapidly and accurately test for the presence of biological pathogens, such as the virus that causes SARS as well as anthrax, and smallpox.

According to a World Health organization (WHO) report, a total of 3169 cases of SARS, with 144 deaths, have been reported to WHO from 21 countries.

The Rochester, New York-based Integrated Nano-Technologies has acquired from the Technion Research and Development Foundation in Haifa the right to use three patents developed by its researchers which which cover the metallization of DNA, and form the basis for the BioDetect system. Technion's groundbreaking work in this field has been recognized through publications in the journals Science and Nature.

According to the company, the Israeli technologies, when combined with INT's expertise in chip fabrication and molecular biology, will produce an entirely new and more effective sensor for virus detection.

The BioDetect system will fill a substantial void in current methods of detection, which are slow, lab-based, and expensive. The system will return results in less than 30 minutes, and is small enough to be carried for use outdoors or installed in air circulation systems, according to INT. The company has been developing BioDetect for the past two years.

"Traditional biological agent detection systems involve sending samples to laboratories, where they undergo a complex testing process that can take up to 24 hours to complete," said Michael Connolly, CEO of Integrated Nano-Technologies.

"The BioDetect system will generate results in the field substantially faster and with greater accuracy than any existing system or test."

A BioDetect prototype should be ready by summer. A system ready for sale will be made by year's end, Connolly said. The current system is the size of a shoe box and weighs about 20 pounds. Within a year, INT plans to make a hand-held version, which also could be used in hospitals or doctor's offices.

The BioDetect system is based on the electronic detection of DNA binding on a computer chip. Using the Technion technology, INT developed a method for coating DNA with metal to make it a conductive wire. First, DNA probes are placed on a computer chip. Air, liquid or solid samples are passed over the chip. If there is a match, the sample DNA binds with the DNA probe.

The metal coating then is introduced to the system. Where there is a match, the DNA creates a bridge between electrodes. The metal coats the DNA bridge and conducts the charge between the electrodes. The connection is detected by the chip, identifying the sample and producing results within 30 minutes.

INT has had early stage discussions about the detection system with government agencies. Connolly said he also is talking with defense contractors about partnerships. INT's system could be used, for example, in drone aircraft to detect biological warfare agents or on commercial airliners to monitor air for disease-causing bacteria or viruses. The worldwide licenses for the set of the three Technion patents give the company "a very strong and secure patent position" that will allow INT to have an exclusive position in the market, Connolly said.

The Technion team included Prof. Uri Sivan, Dr. Yoav Eichen, and technician Gedalia Ben Yosef. The company paid the Technion $4 million in cash and will pay royalties on future sales. This is the first deal of its kind for the Technion in the nanotechnology field.

The director of the Technion R&D Institute, Prof. Zvi Kochavi, said that the Technion is a leader in both teaching and research in the new and promising field of nano-technology.

"The future lies in miniaturization," he stressed. "Today's microelectronics, which deals with increasing the complexity of the electronic circuit by compressing it into a tiny area, is about to reach the limits of miniaturization. In order to enable compression of information in growing and larger quantities on smaller and smaller surfaces, it is necessary to move into the molecular field.

"Molecular electronics will offer memory size a hundred thousand times greater than existing technology and will operate faster and with significantly greater computing power. Future developments in molecular electronics of advanced nano-electronic components will enable creating a supercomputer the size of a sugar cube," Kochavi added.

Attorney Avi Goldsobel, legal advisor of the Technion R&D Institute, said that negotiations for the deal took a long time, due to the fact that it was the first agreement the organization has ever signed in this field.

"ITN will develop products based on the patents of the Technion researchers and will license development and implementation of additional applications," he stressed. "Income from this will be divided among the company, the Technion R&D Institute and the researchers. We were also given the option to convert our rights into shares in the American company." ( www.Israel21c.org )

[PAR35]

I accept your correction. The SARS definition has not, as I stated above, been changed. As your post shows, the definition has been "updated".

[PAR35]

No one has died from SARS in the U.S., as compared with Canada's 15 who have died from it.

Perhaps because we don't have socialized medicine yet. I don't think the outcome would have been the same if HillaryCare had been enacted.