Toronto is put into 'quarantine' over Sars outbreak

Toronto, the largest city in Canada, was placed under an unexpected quasi-quarantine yesterday after the World Health Organisation put it on a list of three destinations people should avoid because of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The advice, issued as the global death toll reached 251, said Toronto, Beijing and the Chinese province of Shanxi were places to avoid because of the risk of catching the virus. The organisation had previously warned against travel to Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong.

The WHO said it was "recommending, as a measure of precaution, that persons planning to travel to these destinations consider postponing all but essential travel". Toronto is the first non-Asian city singled out by a WHO health advisory.

Toronto, which has a population of four million, has reported 136 cases of Sars and 15 deaths. The disease, which has a 5.9 per cent mortality rate, is thought to have been imported to the city by a Chinese Canadian grandmother, who caught it during a trip to Hong Kong. The advisory will remain in effect for at least three weeks – twice the incubation period for the Sars virus.

The organisation's action sparked dismay among city officials and local business leaders, who feared it would spread fear and damage the economy. Dr Donald Law, the chief microbiologist at the city's Mount Sinai hospital, said the advice was "inappropriate".

"The damage has been done. Can you image booking a conference in Toronto for a year from now?" he said. The Bank of Canada last night trimmed its economic growth outlook for Canada from 3 per cent to 2.5 per cent, citing uncertainty over the impact of Sars.

WHO officials said they acted in part because the Sars virus had spread from Toronto to another country, which they did not name.