Safety

Unknown illness kills three in Vancouver

Emergency Management Alert, September 3, 2003

Canadian health officials said August 14 they were investigating the deaths of three people from an illness similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) at a nursing home near Vancouver, Reuters reports.

The illness demonstrated different characteristics than SARS, but officials were taking precautions after preliminary tests found evidence of a virus believed to be linked to SARS. The outbreak appeared to be an isolated incident and none of the cases at the facility fit the established definition of SARS.

Three people at the nursing home had died from a respiratory illness in the past month. Health officials said the unknown illness appeared to have peaked in mid-July, but the facility had been put under quarantine while more tests were done. Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) said August 15 that the WHO is not treating the incidents as a new SARS outbreak at this time.

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