Bermuda's chief medical officer Dr. John Cann last night urged residents not to travel to Toronto unless absolutely necessary after the World Health Organisation (WHO) named the city as a major SARS risk.

Canada's business capital, where a number of young Bermudian people are studying and people on the Island regularly travel, was listed along with Beijing and China's Shanxi province as being at the heart of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which has killed scores and afflicted thousands.

The global advisory to postpone travel to the three destinations will be in effect for at least three weeks, twice the disease's maximum incubation period.

Dr. Cann said yesterday that people in Toronto will be allowed to enter Bermuda as usual, but said Immigration and Customs officers will continue to quiz people in the arrival's hall at Bermuda International Airport to ensure SARS does not spread on the Island.

“We are also recommending to Bermudians that they should be aware of this travel advice from the World Health Organisation and they should reconsider all non-essential travel to Toronto, Canada, as well as to Beijing and China's Shanxi province.

“In terms of what does this mean for Bermudians who are in Canada, as some families might be concerned about their young children who are in school, there will be no restrictions on them.

“Before flying back to Bermuda they should expect to go through some pre-flight screening in Toronto, where people in Canada should ask them questions.

“And then when they arrive in Bermuda, they would hopefully also go through some screening and have four simple questions asked of them.”

Dr. Cann said a duty nurse will be on hand at the airport when the Toronto flights arrive, and should anyone complain of any SARS-like symptoms, or say they have been in contact with anyone with SARS, then medical attention will be at hand immediately.

But he said he was relying on people being totally open about their health condition and who they had been in contact with in order to keep SARS out of Bermuda.

And he said, so far, a small number of people arriving at the airport may have had one or another of the SARS symptoms, but did not have them all, so no further action was needed, as most had a common cold.

Dr. Cann added: “We are doing good , so far. But I think it's really difficult to predict what will happen.

“SARS may be like the flu in that it becomes a seasonal thing that we have to deal with periodically.

“Hopefully, we will see a downward curve and see fewer and fewer cases reported, but if it gets a toehold in the US, then we can expect bouts of it.

“There really is no treatment for it. The key is identifying it early and taking precautions. We need people to be honest. It's in their interests and in the country's interests to deal with it quickly.”

Assistant Chief Immigration Officer Rozy Azhar said immigration and customs staff had been provided with a questionnaire from Dr. Cann, which they subjected passengers to when it was believed they had been in affected areas, particularly Canada and Hong Kong.

And she said if passengers answered positive to any of the questions, then the duty nurse on hand was drafted in.

SARS has killed at least 251 people worldwide and infected more than 4,200 since it appeared in China late last year. China has more than half of the world's known cases.

Its flu-like symptoms include high fever, a dry cough and difficulty in breathing. Most patients survive, but health officials say the mortality rate has risen from four percent to 5.9 percent and there is as yet no known cure, although some pharmaceutical firms have said they would start working on one.

Canada has reported 15 deaths out of 324 suspected or likely cases - more than one third of those were in Ontario province, which includes Toronto. Beijing, a city of 14 million people, has reported almost 700 SARS cases and 35 deaths, out of 106 nationwide. Until last week, officials had only admitted to 37 infections in the city.

Shanxi, which lies west of the capital, has the third highest number of cases in China, 157 cases with seven deaths, according to healthy ministry figures.

Toronto's outbreak is said to be growing in magnitude and has affected groups outside of the initial risk groups of hospital workers, families, visitors and other close person-to-person contacts, said WHO.

The agency said: “In addition, a small number of persons with SARS, now in other countries in the world, appear to have acquired the infection while in Toronto.”

Air Canada did not return calls to The Royal Gazette.