

Chris Fox, CP24.com





Toronto Public Health says that it is “actively monitoring” reports of a mysterious pneumonia-like illness that has hospitalized nearly 60 people in one Chinese city but is not aware of any local cases at this point.

A total of 59 people in the central Chinese city of Wuhan have come down with the illness in recent days with several of those cases deemed critical.

The Chinese government has said that it has ruled out SARS, the bird flu and several other respiratory diseases as causes but they have not given any indication of what could be to blame for the rash of cases.

In a news release issued on Tuesday, Toronto Public Health said that it is not aware of any cases of the illness in Canada and believes the overall risk to residents is “very low.”

The public health agency, however, said that it will “actively monitor” the situation, especially in light of the fact that “Pearson International Airport is an international travel hub.”

"At this point, while there are no cases of this illness reported in Toronto, the city has a well-developed response plan should the situation change. In the meantime, we will continue to monitor and work collaboratively with our colleagues at the Public Health Agency of Canada and the province who are the leads for this area,” Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said. “This is a great example of our work behind the scenes to keep our residents healthy, safe and strong, and how public health is a key contributor to the sustainability of our whole health system."

Health officials in China have said that symptoms of the illness include fever, difficulty breathing and in some cases lung lesions.

Speaking with CP24 on Tuesday, CTV's Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Neil Rau said that there shouldn’t be any cause for concern locally yet, especially given that there is no indication of person-to-person transmission of the illness.

“So far when the World Health Organization and the Chinese authorities have looked at this cluster they have seen no evidence of person to person transmission. It is looking more like this is something where people had a common shared exposure to some sort of market,” he said. “I think as soon as we get a laboratory answer as to what the cause is I think people will rest easy but so long as the mysterious of what this is remains we are going to continue to have this hesitation and uncertainty.”

Toronto Public Health says that is reminding any residents who return from international travel and develop respiratory symptoms to report their travel history to any health professional they visit.