Last Update: Wednesday, October 5, 2005. 7:44pm (AEST)
Mystery illness claims 10 lives in Toronto

Toronto, which was hit hard by the SARS virus two years ago, has been
hit again by a mysterious ailment.

No-one knows what it the illness is, but it has already killed 10
people in less than two weeks.

Since September 25, 84 people have become ill with the ailment, which
is similar to SARS but which officials insist is not the fatal
disease.

The flu and avian flu have also been ruled out.

This ailment develops much more quickly than SARS, as patients go from
healthy to dead in just a few days.

So far nine of the 10 fatalities have been senior citizens residing in
a retirement home where the outbreak began, but one of the victims was
a healthy staff member.

There is no quarantine at the facility.

Canadian authorities had been criticised during the SARS outbreak for
being slow to impose quarantine.

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Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200510/s1475520.htm


Cheers, Steve..

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