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WHO extends travel warning to Beijing and Toronto

WHO extends travel warning to Beijing and Toronto

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Extending its precautionary travel advisory after a new assessment of the magnitude of outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) today recommended that travellers consider postponing trips to Beijing and Shanxi Province, China, and Toronto, Canada.

SARS, a new disease first recognized in late February, has spread along the routes of international air travel and as of 22 April, had infected 3,947 people, of whom about 5 per cent have died, from 25 countries on five continents. The previous advisory applied to travel to Guangdong Province and Hong Kong.

The precautionary measures aim to reduce the impact of SARS and contain the disease while it is still in a relatively early stage, WHO said in a statement. The current advisory will be re-examined in three weeks time, which is twice the maximum incubation period of SARS.

In reaching its decision, WHO said it had carefully reviewed the latest information from the Chinese Government about the magnitude of the SARS outbreaks in Beijing and Shanxi Province, as well as the situation in Toronto, where the outbreak has continued to grow in magnitude and has affected groups outside the initial risk groups of hospital workers, families, visitors and other close person-to-person contacts. It noted that a small number of people, now in other countries, appeared to have acquired SARS while in Toronto.