Via Rail Train Quarantined - 1 Passenger Dead, Several Ill - Canada

May 9, 2008

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UPDATE:The emergency response that kicked into gear when a woman died on a crosscountry train Friday may have turned out to a false alarm.

But public health officials say it was the type of rapid reaction needed to detect and contain future SARS-like outbreaks.

Further, they said this kind of lightning-fast response to clusters of unusual illnesses is actually a sign the system is working.

“Had we had that high level of suspicion in Toronto, for example, at the beginning of SARS, they may not have had the number of cases they subsequently had,” said Dr. Perry Kendall, British Columbia’s chief medical officer of health.

“So I think it’s important that this is the new normal. And I think we will have events that turn out not to be events as we try and screen for events that might be events.”

Attempts to limit the spread of dangerous diseases require early intervention, investigation and isolation of potentially contagious people. And that was the type of response mounted when authorities learned a woman had died and others were complaining of flu-like illness on a Toronto-bound Via Rail train which had stopped in the northern Ontario village of Foleyet.

The passengers from two carriages were quarantined, one woman was sent by air ambulance to hospital in Timmins, Ont., and emergency response workers in hazmat suits descended on the scene.

Across the country, public health officials linked into conference calls alerting them to the unfolding situation.

“What worked and what was great, I thought, was that within a couple of hours of this happening people across the country who have a mandate to look into this and launch surveillance and activities were all informed,” said Kendall.

“It’s a successful test of the system.”

By day’s end, Ontario authorities were able to rule out an infectious diseases outbreak. It appeared the dead woman may have succumbed to a heart attack. And the woman taken to hospital tested negative there for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, which causes flu-like symptoms.

But at the beginning of the day, all authorities knew was that a woman who had been seemingly fine the night before had died suddenly, others were sick and that the group included tourists from Australia who may have passed through Asia on their way to Canada, said Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s chief public health officer.

“Given that there’s still H5N1 (avian influenza) and while we haven’t seen much person-to-person spread, one person dying and another person requiring airlifting and a bunch of other people sick, that kind of throws up some quick flags,” Butler-Jones said in an interview.

The events also quickly drew the attention of people outside of Canada. Public health circles in the U.S. were buzzing with the news. Senior communications staff at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta spotted via a Google News alert that a train had been quarantined in Canada and sent out feelers to find out what was happening.

Source

Original Story - The cause of death of a passenger who died on a Via Rail train on Friday is still a mystery, said Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams at a press conference. But he added that tests have eliminated a number of serious illnesses.

The Via Rail train was quarantined in Northern Ontario earlier Friday after a female passenger became ill and died. Others on board also reported similar flu-like symptoms.

Dr. Williams also confirmed that the other passengers who fell ill had medical conditions unrelated to the dead passenger.

“Their symptoms were determined to be minor, with no high temperature or breathlessness indicated. They’re in stable condition,” he said.

Officials say all of the 264 passengers are being kept on board and are still being screened as a precaution but that the train could resume on its journey later today.

Also, there are also no plans for evacuation of nearby communities, officials confirmed.

Laurel Ostfield, of the Ontario Ministry of Health, said highly trained paramedics in full protective gear and two air ambulances are on the scene.

“We’re taking precautions and we did learn lessons from SARS so our medical teams and the health care system in general have learned that you would put safety first. We’re taking precautions and this is why the train has been quarantined at this point,” Ms. Ostfield said.

OPP Const. Marc Depatie told CBC News that “unconfirmed reports” suggest the woman who died was ill when she boarded the train as part of a tour group in Jasper, Alta. She was reportedly in her 60s.

He said other people on the four-day rail journey from Vancouver to Toronto have also reported “similar but not extreme” flu-like symptoms and that one other passenger was airlifted to a nearby hospital in Timmins, Ont.

Kali Garneau, a spokesman from Timmins District Hospital, said the patient is in isolation and in stable condition.

“We are currently not expecting anymore patients,” said Ms. Garneau. She could not confirm the patient’s name, age or symptoms.

Earlier reports had said 10 passengers had been taken to hospital.

Only fire and ambulance officials in full protective gear are being allowed on and off the train. There is a doctor on the train who is providing medical assistance.

“The whole place is being overrun with ambulances and police cars, and we’ve got helicopters,” said Deborah DesRochers, chairwoman of the town of 380 about 100 kilometres southwest of Timmins.

“They’ve got the train quarantined. They’re trying to isolate what it is.”

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