Toronto Hospitals on High SARS Alert

Interactive: SARS at a glance

TAIPEI, Taiwan - Canadian officials conceded that precautions at Toronto hospitals weren't enough to prevent new SARS infections, while Hong Kong researchers said a vaccine for the highly contagious respiratory disease is ready for testing on animals.

Since emerging in November in southern China, the virus has infected more than 8,200 people worldwide. Taiwan on Tuesday reported 11 new cases and four deaths, bringing the global death toll to at least 729.

The vast majority of cases have been in Asia, where fears of the illness have led to a severe downturn in tourism. The largest outbreaks have been on China's mainland and in its territory Hong Kong, followed by Taiwan.

Two Japanese doctors were in Taiwan on Tuesday to study why SARS spread so quickly here ? an economically developed society similar to Japan's. Japan has no confirmed SARS cases but is concerned the virus could hit there next.

"We are standing in the same boat," said one of the visiting physicians, Hiroshi Noguchi of Narita Red Cross Hospital.

China has been reporting falling numbers of new cases, especially in its hard-hit capital, although the World Health Organization says it is too early to declare China's outbreak under control. Beijing officials have warned repeatedly against relaxing preventive measures.

But at the same time, China's airlines were restoring canceled domestic flights and traffic accidents in Beijing have surged as drivers return to city streets.

WHO put Toronto, Canada's largest city, back on its list of SARS-affected places after health officials there reported eight new cases and 26 suspected cases in clusters linked to four hospitals.

WHO did not recommend any travel restrictions for the city, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has issued a travel alert for Canada, a step short of advising against unnecessary travel there.

Toronto health authorities were scrambling to limit any further possible spread while investigating how the new cases slipped through upgraded monitoring.

"What it tells us at the moment is that there is a failure in our system of management," said Dr. Allison McGeer, head of infection control of Mount Sinai Hospital who has recovered from SARS, contracted in the early days of Toronto's initial outbreak in March.

Officials in Toronto have re-imposed strict controls on hospitals ? closing those where the new cases were found to new patients and limiting access to emergency rooms in all others, with staff required to wear protective masks and gowns and take the temperature of anyone entering.

Yuen Kwok-yung, head of the University of Hong Kong's Department of Microbiology, said an activated strain of SARS coronavirus was now ready to be tested in animals as a tentative vaccine.

The preliminary results will be known in six months, but there were no plans at present for human testing, he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, scientists at Germany's Robert Koch Institute said they had developed a test that detects the presence of SARS antibodies, or a sign that people have been infected with the virus.

The blood test would enable doctors to determine whether a patient showing the typical, flu-like symptoms of a high fever, cough and sore throat was actually suffering from SARS, the institute said.

In other SARS developments: _ Taiwan's second-biggest airline, EVA Airways Corp., said Tuesday it will cut back flights to Japan next month because SARS continues to dampen demand for air travel.

_ In Singapore, officials said visitor arrivals fell 73 percent in the first three weeks of May, but the city-state's tourism chief predicted that business would recover in June if there are no new SARS cases.

_ Cat lovers are rescuing stray felines from Singapore's streets and sending them to an animal shelter in Malaysia to save them from being killed in a government cleanliness campaign aimed at fighting SARS. There are an estimated 80,000 stray cats in Singapore, but the cleanliness campaign targets only those caught near markets and other places that serve food.

Related articles: - Toronto Reports 8 New SARS Infections - Doctor Suspected of SARS Recovers in Ga. - WHO Links SARS to Three Small Mammals - WHO Lifts Hong Kong Travel Advisory

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