TORONTO -- As fears of a swine flu pandemic grow, a public health spokesman urged Torontonians to take precautions and remain calm as officials monitor progress of the virus.
"We still don't have any cases in Toronto or the rest of the province of Ontario," Toronto Public Health's Rishma Govani said yesterday.
She said officials are re-working their 2007 pandemic plan, which should soon be posted on the health department's website. Toronto's last big public health threat came six years ago when the city fell prey to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
With 103 people believed dead in Mexico from a swine influenza, six people were reported in B.C. and Nova Scotia with mild symptoms, plus others ill in the U.S. and overseas, "we're obviously monitoring the situation," along with federal and provincial agencies, Govani said.
"We've been planning for years for a pandemic," she said. "It's obviously unpredictable and the situation is always changing ... but we are a dedicated team.
"If it were to escalate, our whole staff is prepared," Govani said. "We have the experience with some of the lessons of SARS in 2003."
Unlike SARS, health specialists have spent years dealing with influenza, though the new strain seems a hybrid.
Some predict fearful people, especially people returning from Mexico, may demand checkups at clinics and hospitals. Govani recommended people take standard precautions.
A Sun reader on a flight from Cancun said he and others aboard were greeted Saturday at Pearson airport by masked customs staff after a passenger took ill and was taken off with "a quarantine nurse ... None of the passengers were provided any safety apparatus or instructions," he said, asking his name be withheld.
Passengers were asked to fill out Health Canada forms "so we could be tracked ... if there was a problem," he said. "I find it unacceptable that we were not given any assistance."
He suggest ed fears would have eased with "contact numbers or person for us to keep apprised of this situation."
Go to Toronto Public Health's website -- toronto.ca/health -- for information or call 416-338-7600.
IAN.ROBERTSON@SUNMEDIA.CA
