WASHINGTON, May 29 (UPI) -- Toronto and Taiwan both reported additional cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome Thursday but the disease looks to be coming to a halt in other areas of the world.
Toronto faced a second wave of cases last week but the city only reported two more SARS cases Thursday and no additional deaths. Canada now has a total of 151 cases and 27 deaths from the disease.
Taiwan reported 10 more cases and no deaths, which represents a drop-off from the 22 cases and five deaths reported Wednesday and provides further indication the outbreak is declining in that region, as suggested by World Health Organization officials Wednesday.
The SARS total in Taiwan now stands at 660 cases and 81 deaths.
China reported three more cases and two more deaths. All of the new cases and one of the deaths occurred in the capital city of Beijing. The remaining death occurred in Hebei. The country now has a total of 5,325 cases and 327 deaths from the disease.
The World Health Organization said it "is cautiously optimistic that outbreaks in mainland China are being brought under control in provinces with good surveillance and reporting systems and good infection control in hospitals."
However, rural areas still might be vulnerable to spread of SARS and WHO officials in China are trying to decide how best to implement monitoring procedures in those areas as well as which measures will be most effective.
"WHO teams hope to visit other SARS 'hot spots' in China, such as Tianjin and Shanxi," the agency said in a written statement.
Another area having difficulty is Shanghai. The city is taking measures to screen passengers on airplanes but "implementation of a similar level of screening at Shanghai's bus and railway stations is proving logistically more difficult," the WHO said.
Although the use of air conditioning is being prohibited in public places in China to prevent the spread of SARS, WHO officials said there is no evidence air conditioning systems play a major role in transmitting the virus.
"All evidence indicates that the predominant mode of spread is through close person-to-person contact with droplets expelled when an infected person coughs or sneezes," the WHO said.
The international health agency also noted air conditioning could be used in hospitals settings as an alternative to negative air pressure or independent air supply when no other option is available.
Hong Kong continued to report relatively few new cases of the disease, recording only two more cases and three deaths Thursday. It now has 1,732 cases and 273 deaths.
Worldwide, 8,295 SARS cases and 750 deaths have been reported in 28 countries so far.
