Re: Canada: train quarantined; Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up
Re: Canada: train quarantined; Flu Trackers Team Follow-Up
UNDIAGNOSED ILLNESS, TRAIN - CANADA: (ALBERTA,
ONTARIO), REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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[1]
Date: 9 May 2008
Source: Associated Press [edited]
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http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gFlSjtUIBDMVj9iFqsaSYEypMdpAD90I9BJO0>
Train quarantined in Ontario with mystery illness
-------------------------------------------------
Canadian authorities quarantined a train in
northern Ontario Friday [9 May 2008] after a
woman died and several other people came down
with an undetermined illness. Officials were
keeping passengers from leaving the train, said
Steve Trinier, the director of ambulance services in the area.
The train was being held in the station in the
town of Foleyet, 500 miles northwest of Toronto.
The station was evacuated. As many as 10 people
were ill with flu-like symptoms. The illnesses
appeared to be contained to 2 cars on the train
of 269 passengers and 30 crew members.
One person was taken to hospital and is in stable
condition, Trinier said. The cross country Via
passenger train was headed from Vancouver to
Toronto when emergency officials received a call
Friday morning [9 May 2008] and met the train in Foleyet.
Police constable Marc Depatie told CBC TV there
were reports that the woman who died was in her
60s and already had flulike symptoms when she
boarded the train with a group of tourists in Jasper, Alberta.
Seven other members of her party were
experiencing similar but not extreme symptoms, he
said. Trinier said authorities did not know the cause of the illnesses yet.
"There's certainly a possibility of something as
simple as food poisoning and also an
environmental toxin of some sort," Trinier said.
Health officials were on the alert for norovirus,
though they said that has not been identified as
the cause. Noroviruses cause stomach flu and can
be caught through contact with infected people or
by touching or ingesting contaminated items.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
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promed@promedmail.org>
******
[2]
Date: 9 May 2008
Source: Globe and Mail [edited]
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080509.wtrainnew0509/BNStory/National/home?cid=al_gam_mostemail>
Woman dies mysteriously on Via train; others sick
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With hundreds of passengers aboard, many believed
to be foreign tourists, a VIA Rail train remained
under quarantine in a small northern Ontario town
Friday afternoon [9 May 2008] after a 60-year-old
woman was found dead in a passenger coach and 6
others complained of feeling unwell with a
flu-like ailment. It was unclear, however,
whether the 2 sets of circumstances were connected.
"At present we do not believe they're related,"
Ontario Provincial Police Staff Sergeant Rob Knox said.
He said the woman became ill on the train and
subsequently died from an unknown illness. A 2nd
passenger who has been airlifted to Timmins and
District Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a
respiratory illness and listed in stable condition.
The 5 other ill passengers aboard the train are
in stable condition and in good spirits, he said.
The doctor aboard the train who is treating these
passengers is "not concerned for their immediate health," he added.
These passengers are in a separate car, isolated
from others. He said there is no need to evacuate
anyone from the immediate area surrounding the train.
"There is no evidence to support an outbreak of
infectious disease aboard the train," said
Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health David
Williams at a news conference. Mr. Williams said
there was a confluence of 3 events unrelated to
each other: the woman who died, the woman over 60
with a shortness of breath who was airlifted to
hospital, and 5 tourists travelling together who
felt ill before they boarded the train in Jasper,
who were suffering from a viral-type condition.
He anticipates the train will begin rolling later
Friday [9 May 2008] en route to Toronto, where it
is expected to arrive Saturday [10 May 2008] morning.
A small army of emergency vehicles descended on
the tiny hamlet Friday morning following reports
that several passengers were suffering from the
flu-like symptoms. The train was on its final leg
of a 3-day trip from Vancouver to Toronto.
Staff Sgt. Knox said a doctor was on the train
and had tried to help the victim after she became
ill from a still-undetermined illness. The woman
later died, and the doctor turned his attention
to other passengers who were also unwell but who
were later described as being in stable condition and in good spirits.
The doctor said he saw no immediate connection
between the woman's death and the other
passengers' illnesses, Staff Sgt. Knox said.
Officials were obtaining medical documents and
patient histories in search of clues as to what happened.
For several hours the emergency triggered
widespread concern in Foleyet, a town of less
than 400 people, and only emergency personnel
wearing full protective gear were being allowed aboard the train.
"We're just going crazy," said resident Carol
Woodhouse, who works at a bunkhouse where train
crews rest and eat. "The rumours are flying,
people are talking about SARS, nobody knows
what's going on. Usually we only have 2 policemen
here, now I think we've got at least 20."
Ms. Woodhouse estimated the train - carrying 246
passengers and 30 crew - consisted of at least
30 coaches, but the illness is believed to have
been contained within one or 2 cars. The train
was halted about 8:35 a.m. after the woman was discovered dead.
All the communities in which the train made stops
were under scrutiny, Health Canada spokesman
Alastair Sinclair said. "Federal officials are
collaborating with their provincial and regional
counterparts to assess the situation and take
action, as appropriate," Mr. Sinclair said. "The
Minister of Health, Tony Clement, has been
briefed and has directed his officials to notify
and liaise with provincial, regional and local
authorities, both in Foleyet and at all points
along the route the train travelled. For the
moment, Ontario is the lead on this."
Constable Marc Depatie of the OPP said in an
interview that officials were still trying to
determine what caused the illnesses on the train
and how they are linked to the fatality.
"We don't know if the element is viral or
bacterial or a case of food poisoning."
But he echoed Staff Sgt Knox in saying no crisis appeared to be at hand.
"There is no immediate threat to the persons who
are either suffering with the flu-like symptoms
or to other occupants of the train, so there is no emergency sense to this."
The logistics, however, posed an obstacle,
Constable Depatie said. "Geography is basically
working against us because the persons who are
best equipped to deal with this are miles from a
small town in northern Ontario." Of the 5
passengers separated from the others, "They're
experiencing flu-like symptoms but not to the
extent that would require immediate extrication."
Crime-scene investigators from OPP's South
Porcupine detachment were also on hand but had
not yet boarded the quarantined train.
"From an OPP perspective, all sudden deaths are
deemed to be suspicious in nature until we
determine the root cause," Constable Depatie
said. "So with that in mind, our crime unit is at
the scene taking preliminary information down so
we can perform an investigation of the event."
Public health officials in British Columbia and
Alberta were on standby, awaiting more information from Foleyet.
Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for
Vancouver Coastal Health, said officials had been
alerted to possible concerns, but it wasn't clear
if any health threat existed in B.C. or Alberta.
"We're on standby. We've been advised. They did
contact us and we're waiting for further
information," she said. "As soon as we get more
information we'll know if there is anything we have to do here."
Nothing amiss was reported in Jasper either,
Aspen Regional Health Authority spokesman Scott Donaldson said.
Alberta Health is also investigating, since the
train travelled across the province, making stops
in both Jasper and Edmonton on Wednesday [7 May 2008].
Helen Kelleher-Empey, general manager of Jasper
Tourism and Commerce, said train travel is
crucial to the resort town's economy and its 4643
residents, especially as it gears up for the busy
summer season when the population explodes.
"We are shocked and saddened that that someone
has died," Ms. Kelleher-Empey said
Foleyet lies about 100 kilometres [62 miles]
southwest of Timmins. Town chairwoman Deborah
DesRochers said the scene was initially chaotic as emergency vehicles arrived.
Others realized something unusual was happening
when they saw the train stopped at the station
around 9 a.m., local resident Fernande Dallaire
said. OPP cruisers, some with sirens blaring,
cordoned off the local rail yard, she said.
Judy Bromley saw several ambulances show up and
watched as a medical helicopter landed nearby and
airlifted a female passenger away. At one point,
the OPP ordered the evacuation of a local railway
rooming house, to turn it into a command centre
and let healthy passengers use some of the
30-plus beds there. But the plan was changed and
passengers remained onboard the train cars.
Resident John Boudreau said he could see some
sitting in the train's dining room, calmly having
a meal. The train was equipped for long-haul
journeys, with sleeping berths and a fully
equipped dining room, and it didn't appear to
have immediate resupply needs, Mr. Boudreau said.
The normal duration of the Vancouver-Toronto
journey is 30 minutes short of 3 days, and the
trip has long been popular with foreign tourists, Ms. Woodhouse said.
[Byline: Timothy Appleby]
--
Communicated by:
David Fisman, MD MPH FRCPC
Hospital for Sick Children and Ontario Public Health Lab
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
<
david.fisman@gmail.com>
[It is unclear on the basis of the information
available so far whether the death of the elderly
passenger was the result of an illness
(infectious or otherwise) or some other
consequence, and whether the febrile illness of
some other passengers is related to this death. Further information is awaited.
Of note is that there appear to be a mix of
illnesses going on... apparently some seem to be
purely respiratory in nature, and others may
welll be gastrointestinal as norovirus is
speculated as a causative agent. Clarification
of the situation would be greatly appreciated.
The HealthMap/ProMED-mail map of Canada can be
used to locate the province of Ontario:
<
http://healthmap.org/promed?v=55.4,-101.9,4>;
and the town of Foleyet can be located in the map at:
<
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&resnum=0&q=Foleyet,+ON,+Canada>.
- Mods.CP/MPP]
.................cp/mpp/ejp/mpp
