AUSTRALIA: Three Canadian children isolated at Melbourne's Monash medical centre with suspected SARS virus

Record ID: 863398

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: Three Canadian children isolated at Melbourne's Monash medical centre with suspected SARS virus
  • Date: 3rd April 2003
  • Summary: (W2) SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (APRIL 3, 2003) (REUTERS) VARIOUS: OF PASSENGERS AT SYDNEY AIRPORT WEARING MASKS ARRIVING FROM COUNTRIES WHERE CASES OF SARS HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED. (7 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 18th April 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
  • City:
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Health
  • Reuters ID: LVACR6MDUSL2W8QJ2DF2IERKVRVK
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Three Canadian children have been isolated in an Australian hospital, with one diagnosed as probably having the deadly flu-like SARS virus that has hit Asia and Canada.
    So far Australia has only reported one official case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a British tourist who has since recovered and returned home. Around the world, SARS has killed around 80 people.
    But with the number of cases topping 2,300 across 18 countries, Australian health authorities have stepped up precautionary measures to stop the disease spreading in Australia. Six people were under investigation on Friday (April 4).
    A spokesman from the state of Victoria's Health Department said three Canadian siblings, aged 18 months, three and six, were taken to Melbourne's Monash Medical Centre overnight and were under observation in an isolation ward.
    The youngsters arrived in Australia on Saturday from Toronto in Canada, where SARS has killed seven people.
    "The three-year-old girl is a probable case of SARS and she is in a stable condition but there are also concerns for her two brothers and they are under investigation and being assessed for possible SARS," spokesman Bram Alexander told Reuters.
    "There is no specific test for SARS so it is a matter of ruling out what they don't have, and also testing them against the World Health Organisation's clinical diagnosis. We have to be cautious about this."
    Australian authorities have advised people to defer all non-essential travel to China, where the disease was first identified, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Canada's Ontario province. Initially, the foreign office advised against travel to the whole of Canada but later changed it to Ontario only.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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