B.C. health officials are taking precautions against a
deadly new respiratory virus that has sickened more than 40 people
worldwide, killing about half of them.
Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s provincial health officer, said Wednesday a precautionary alert system is in place for the new virus - called Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome - even though there have been no reported cases so far in North America.
MERS was first seen in the Middle East and clusters of illness have also been reported in France, Britain and Tunisia.
Experts aren't sure how humans are catching the virus but think it may originate in animals such as bats or camels.
Kendall said similar precautions are also in place for the H7N9 virus from China.
The travel history of anyone with a serious respiratory illness is examined to see if it corresponds to where the disease is present.
They're even checked to see if they've been in contact with anyone else who has had a serious illness.
"These alerts have been going out to all physicians since early this year," said Kendall.
He said a similar system was in place in 2003 when the threat was SARS and proved effective.
The first B.C. patient with SARS was in respiratory isolation within four minutes of fulfilling enough signs to trigger the alert.
"The system is a pretty good one," said Kendal.
"It relies on capturing the most serious cases.
In a speech on Monday in Geneva, the World Health Organization's director general, Dr. Margaret Chan, said her greatest health concern is MERS. She called the ongoing outbreaks "alarm bells" and said the virus "is a threat to the entire world."
Because the illness is so new, it could be affecting different people in different ways.
"The issue that the WHO is worried about with MERS is that they don't really know for sure at this point in time (whether) there are not serious cases," Kendall said. "Mildly ill people that tend not to go to hospital."
A detailed look at two MERS cases suggests people who have the disease should be isolated for at least 12 days to avoid spreading it, French doctors reported on Wednesday.
The said the first patient visited Dubai. He is thought to have caught MERS there before passing it onto the second patient, who had no travel history and with whom he shared a room for three days.
The first patient died. The second remains in critical condition.
In a report published online in the medical journal Lancet, the French scientists wrote that if the virus evolves further, it could become more dangerous.
Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s provincial health officer, said Wednesday a precautionary alert system is in place for the new virus - called Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome - even though there have been no reported cases so far in North America.
MERS was first seen in the Middle East and clusters of illness have also been reported in France, Britain and Tunisia.
Experts aren't sure how humans are catching the virus but think it may originate in animals such as bats or camels.
Kendall said similar precautions are also in place for the H7N9 virus from China.
The travel history of anyone with a serious respiratory illness is examined to see if it corresponds to where the disease is present.
They're even checked to see if they've been in contact with anyone else who has had a serious illness.
"These alerts have been going out to all physicians since early this year," said Kendall.
He said a similar system was in place in 2003 when the threat was SARS and proved effective.
The first B.C. patient with SARS was in respiratory isolation within four minutes of fulfilling enough signs to trigger the alert.
"The system is a pretty good one," said Kendal.
"It relies on capturing the most serious cases.
In a speech on Monday in Geneva, the World Health Organization's director general, Dr. Margaret Chan, said her greatest health concern is MERS. She called the ongoing outbreaks "alarm bells" and said the virus "is a threat to the entire world."
Because the illness is so new, it could be affecting different people in different ways.
"The issue that the WHO is worried about with MERS is that they don't really know for sure at this point in time (whether) there are not serious cases," Kendall said. "Mildly ill people that tend not to go to hospital."
A detailed look at two MERS cases suggests people who have the disease should be isolated for at least 12 days to avoid spreading it, French doctors reported on Wednesday.
The said the first patient visited Dubai. He is thought to have caught MERS there before passing it onto the second patient, who had no travel history and with whom he shared a room for three days.
The first patient died. The second remains in critical condition.
In a report published online in the medical journal Lancet, the French scientists wrote that if the virus evolves further, it could become more dangerous.
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