Two suspected SARS patients quarantined in L.A. LOS ANGELES (Reuters) =97 Two passengers aboard a Cathay Pacific Airlines=20 flight that originated in Hong Kong were quarantined upon arriving in Los=20 Angeles Sunday after exhibiting symptoms associated with the deadly SARS=20 virus, health officials said Wednesday. The unidentified passengers on=20 Cathay Pacific Airways Flight 882 were suffering from high fevers, but=20 X-rays of their chests were normal, an official said. The two new cases=20 brought the total of suspected SARS cases in Los Angeles to 10 since=20 mid-March. Another six patients have been deemed probable SARS cases,=20 officials said. "We were informed of the incident involving the=20 passengers," said Llelwyn Grant, a spokesman for the U.S. Centers for=20 Disease Control and Prevention. Los Angeles county officials declined to=20 release any other information about the two most recent cases, citing=20 patient confidentiality concerns. During the Cathay Pacific flight, which was relatively empty with just 110= =20 passengers on board, the crew phoned ahead to alert health authorities to=20 the suspected SARS cases, a spokeswoman for the airline said. The airline's= =20 policy is to separate the affected passengers from others on board and to=20 provide them with surgical masks to reduce the risk of infection, said Mary= =20 Jersin, a Los Angeles-based spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific. Cabin crew=20 members who are attending to those passengers suspected of having SARS are= =20 required to wear masks, Jersin said. "The two individuals are individuals=20 that we are aware of. They are part of our six probable and 10 suspected=20 cases since March 15," said Los Angeles County health director Dr. Jonathan= =20 Fielding. Fielding would not comment on what warnings, if any, were given=20 to the other passengers aboard the Cathay Pacific flight. Protocols dictate= =20 that passengers would be asked to notify health officials if they exhibit=20 any symptoms within 10 days, he said. Patients who have fevers of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or greater, respiratory= =20 difficulty and evidence of pneumonia are isolated in hospitals or at home=20 until 10 days after they stop showing symptoms, Fielding said. No=20 definitive test exists for the coronavirus that is believed to cause SARS,= =20 but antibody tests conducted 30 days after symptoms appear can detect a=20 probable infection, he said. The World Health Organization has reported=20 8,240 probable and suspected cases of SARS, and 745 people have died as a=20 result, according to the Centers for Disease Control. None of the 66=20 suspected cases in the United States has been fatal, the CDC reported.=20 However, health officials in Canada on Wednesday reported SARS has killed=20 two more people in Toronto as concern about the deadly virus shut down a=20 Toronto-area high school, sending staff and students into quarantine and=20 raising fears it may have spread from hospitals to the broader community.=20 The Toronto area is the only place outside Asia where people have died of=20 SARS. There have been 29 deaths to date and there are currently 12 probable= =20 and 20 suspect cases. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************