Two More Seniors Die in ‘Garden Variety’ Outbreak of Mystery Flu-Like Illness

By COLIN PERKEL

TORONTO (CP) – Two more residents of an Toronto nursing home died Monday after a “garden variety” outbreak of a mysterious illness that has claimed a total of six lives and whose origins and precise nature may never be known, health officials say.

The deaths of two female residents of the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged brought to six the total number of people who have died since the outbreak began a week ago, affecting 68 residents, eight staff members and three visitors to the home.

The two women, 95 and 79, were both residents of the home and had other pre-existing medical conditions, Toronto medical officer of health Dr. David McKeown told a news conference.

But the outbreak, which McKeown described as a serious but “garden variety” occurrence in a long-term care facility, has nonetheless send a chill down the spine of a city that still remembers the devastation of its SARS outbreak two years ago.

“It’s understandable in Toronto after SARS that there’s a lot of interest in respiratory outbreaks but it appears as though this is not anything out of the ordinary,” McKeown said.

Influenza, avian flu, and SARS, which turned Toronto into an international pariah in 2003 when it killed 44 people and sickened more than 400 others, have all been ruled out.

While no new cases of illness were reported Monday, it’s possible there will be more fatalities among those who were already afflicted, he added.

Authorities were hoping the autopsies, some of which were taking place Monday, might help identify the exact cause – but that might prove impossible, said Dr. Allison McGeer, an expert in infectious-disease control.

“There are literally hundreds of viruses that can cause these types of outbreaks,” McGeer said. “It is still likely that we will not identify exactly which virus caused this outbreak.”

In fact, it’s possible the outbreak was caused by more than one bug, she said.

Of 39 respiratory disease outbreaks in such facilities in the last month alone, only three have an identifiable cause, McGeer said, adding that the symptoms suggest a rhinovirus.

Thirty people have been admitted to seven area hospitals.

McKeown said it’s “quite common” for deaths to occur in long-term facilities given that the population tends to be frail and are often of compromised health.

“We see hundreds of outbreaks in Ontario every year in long-term-care facilities,” he said. “It’s certainly well within the range of what we see.”

Seven Oaks, while not under quarantine, remained closed to new admissions and visitors Monday.

Public health authorities had also made 170 contacts with people, including with families of children in an adjacent day nursery, to check whether there was any further transmission.

City hospitals were observing normal practices in dealing with respiratory illnesses, with some added precautions in effect in the emergency room at the east-end hospital where most of the patients were taken.