None Of 12 Patients Quarantined Shows Signs Of SARS

It's by no means a final assessment, but first reports from the US Air Force and the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta (GA) indicate 12 people quarantined for almost a week at Dyess AFB in Abilene (TX) are free of SARS.

More tests are underway, but the Air Force says the dozen are either symptom-free or are getting better. They'll have to stay home - indoors - until they do the remainder of their time under CDC quarantine guidelines. Those rules, which the Air Force is reportedly following to the letter, say the patients have to be isolated for a full ten days before they're certified SARS-free. 

The dozen patients were quarantined after they reported respiratory problems. It turned out that three of the patients had recently traveled through the airport in Toronto on July 1st. The World Health Organization issued warnings to travelers headed for or through Toronto after Canada's second city was hit by an outbreak of the pneumonia-like disease.

At the time, Toronto's Public Safety Commissioner, Dr. James Young, said, "We've had no cases whatsoever at the airport," he said. "We've [not] had transmission in Toronto since the 12th of June."

CNN reports the USAF doctor in charge of the quarantine at Dyess, Col. Schuyler Geller, agrees with the Toronto commissioner. Still, with the chance of a worldwide SARS pandemic only just now starting to fade, you just can't be too careful these days.

FMI: www.dyess.af.mil