Ten people dead as mystery virus hits Toronto home

[GutterRat]

Story

[font=Verdana,Sans-serif]TORONTO (Reuters) - Ten people have died from a mystery viral outbreak at a Toronto nursing home and another 40 are in hospital, public health officials said on Tuesday as they raced to contact anyone who visited the home recently.[/font]

[font=Verdana,Sans-serif]The outbreak, an unidentified respiratory virus, has sparked memories of the SARS outbreak two years ago that killed 44 people in Canada's largest city.[/font]

[font=Verdana,Sans-serif]But health officials said the latest outbreak, which was first detected on September 25, is under control although they warned that more deaths could be expected.[/font]

[font=Verdana,Sans-serif]Four new deaths were added to the toll on Tuesday, all of them elderly residents at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged. All of the dead were aged between 50 years to 95 years.[/font]

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[Voegelin]

Noticed by employees at a nursing home on the 25th (Monday). By the 29th, a health dept spokesperson had ruled out Avian Flu, SARS and all Influenza type A and B viruses.

Fast work. The usual lab work for the H5N1 strain of Avian Flu takes 3 to 4 days.

A company in Singapore announced last week it developed a test which takes under 4 hours but it hasn't been put on the market yet far as I know. Unlikely it was available in Canada last week.