ALLISON LAWLOR

Globe and Mail Update

Monday, March 17 – Online Edition, Posted at 9:23 PM EST

— Eleven laboratories in 10 countries are racing to identify the cause of an atypical pneumonia outbreak that has spread around the globe, the World Health Organization said Monday.

While there had been as many as 10 suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS in Canada — including two deaths — Health Canada said on Monday that there were just eight confirmed or suspected cases of the disease here.

Seven of them are in the Toronto area and one in British Columbia. All of these cases involved people who either recently travelled to Hong Kong or have been in contract with someone who travelled there.

Another 200 individuals may have been in close contact with one of the suspected cases, Dr. Barbara Yaffe of Toronto Public Health said at a news briefing Monday.

Worldwide, there was an estimated 150 victims — as many as nine of whom have died — as the disease has jumped from country to country via air travel.

On Monday, the Geneva-based WHO announced it was stepping up efforts to strengthen the international response to the recent outbreak of the ailment.

Cases have arisen so suddenly that the organization wants travellers, airline crews and medical officials to be on high alert.

The WHO said the disease is spread from person to person, but only through close contact. Many of the reported cases have occurred in health workers involved in the direct care of others who may have had the disease, or in people who have had close contact with cases, such as family members.

Health Canada officials said Monday they believe SARS is a virus but can't confirm that theory as yet. Because there is not firm cause for the disease, there is no specific treatment although antibiotics and antiviral medications are being tried.

Canadian officials said they do not believe that bioterrorism is related to the outbreak.

Experts suspect 300 people in China's Guangdong province may have had the same disease beginning in mid-November. Health officials in China said on Monday the disease that infected about 300 people and killed five in Guangdong province seems amenable to treatment.

While the WHO stopped short of calling for restrictions on travel to destinations where there have been outbreaks, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said on Saturday that Americans travelling to affected areas may wish to postpone trips until further notice.

But Canadian medical authorities decided Sunday after a conference call with the country's top public-health officials not to recommend such a radical step. Instead, Health Canada advises Canadians to be careful when travelling to Asia.

Alerts have been sent through provincial health authorities, putting doctors and hospital staff on the lookout for people with signs of SARS, which includes a high fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing.

Health Canada has also sent staff to Toronto's Pearson Airport and Vancouver International Airport, to be on hand should cases appear among airline passengers. The federal agency plans to give information cards on the disease to travellers arriving from Asia when they pass through customs. It is at these two areas where flights arrive in Canada from Asia.

These cards ask travellers who develop high fevers, accompanied by coughs or difficulty breathing, to consult physicians and inform the doctors that they were in regions with SARS outbreaks.

Samples from cases in Ontario and British Columbia have been sent to Health Canada's national microbiology laboratory in Winnipeg where tests are being conducted in an effort to determine the cause of the pneumonia-like cases.

Toronto Public Health set up a telephone hot line on the weekend for those who fear they may have the illness or come into contract with someone who has it.

By Monday afternoon, more than 1,200 people had called in, Dr. Yaffe said.

With reports from Martin Mittlestaedt, Erin Anderssen and Associated Press