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A file photo of a VIA Rail train leaving the station in Windsor, Ontario, en route to Toronto.
Train Arrives Safely in Toronto Following Quarantine
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Passgeners arrived Saturday morning. Their train was quarantined Friday when one woman on board died and several others became ill.
30-Second Summary
The train pulled into the station at about 7:30 a.m., roughly 11 hours behind schedule.
Passengers had been held under quarantine for much of Friday after an 86-year-old woman died on the train, and at least five others became ill with flu-like symptoms.
Officials were worried about the nature of the mystery illness affecting passengers, but eventually concluded that they did not have an infectious disease, and that their illness and the woman's the death were not related.
A doctor on board the train determined that the woman died of cardiac arrest.
The Toronto Star reported Friday that the train stopped in the small town of Foleyet, in northern Ontario, at roughly 8:30 a.m., after a passenger reported feeling ill and stopped breathing. She later died.
Media accounts varied Friday afternoon, and the newspaper originally reported that 10 other people had been taken to the hospital in the nearby town of Timmins, although reports now suggest only five people became sick.
Relieved passengers deboarded without incident Saturday morning while a crew of TV cameras and reporters stood by.
While some said they were not given adequate information during the quarantine, Via Rail spokesperson Catherine Kaloutsky said, "our employees were communicating with passengers as they were getting the information. That’s part of our protocol.”
Although the situation appeared to be entirely under control Saturday morning, the incident is reminiscent of the 1976 outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease, when 14 men traveling together complained of mysterious, pneumonialike symptoms.
Passengers had been held under quarantine for much of Friday after an 86-year-old woman died on the train, and at least five others became ill with flu-like symptoms.
Officials were worried about the nature of the mystery illness affecting passengers, but eventually concluded that they did not have an infectious disease, and that their illness and the woman's the death were not related.
A doctor on board the train determined that the woman died of cardiac arrest.
The Toronto Star reported Friday that the train stopped in the small town of Foleyet, in northern Ontario, at roughly 8:30 a.m., after a passenger reported feeling ill and stopped breathing. She later died.
Media accounts varied Friday afternoon, and the newspaper originally reported that 10 other people had been taken to the hospital in the nearby town of Timmins, although reports now suggest only five people became sick.
Relieved passengers deboarded without incident Saturday morning while a crew of TV cameras and reporters stood by.
While some said they were not given adequate information during the quarantine, Via Rail spokesperson Catherine Kaloutsky said, "our employees were communicating with passengers as they were getting the information. That’s part of our protocol.”
Although the situation appeared to be entirely under control Saturday morning, the incident is reminiscent of the 1976 outbreak of Legionnaires’ Disease, when 14 men traveling together complained of mysterious, pneumonialike symptoms.
Headline Links: Quarantined train arrives in Toronto
Passenger Cecilia Damico of Ottawa said the only time she was worried was when emergency service workers dressed in hazmat suits boarded the train. “I knew that we had meals with one of the women who had been sick and she had been coughing quite a bit,” she said. Details on the illness that affected the sick passengers have not yet been released.
Source: The Toronto Star
Background: Quarantine begins following woman's death
On Friday, Foleyet resident Judy Bromley said she noticed that the train had stopped around 9:30 a.m. on Friday. She saw a coroner's van on the scene, as well as three ambulances and three to four police cars outside the station late in the morning. Early reports stated that a 60-year-old woman had died on board the train, and that 10 other passengers had become sick, although by Saturday inconsistencies in the original accounts had been cleared up.
Source: The Toronto Star
Related Topics: ‘Boil water’ advisory issued for Foleyet
Last week Foleyet residents were issued a boil water advisory. The Sudbury and District Health Unit issued the advisory on April 28 for residents of Foleyet who draw water from the municipal water system. “Currently, we have no evidence of bacterial contamination,” says Nathalie Barsalou, a public health inspector in Chapleau. “However, testing is ongoing.”
Source: Northern Life
Legionnaires’ Disease, a mysterious illness that started small
In July 1976, American Legionnaires returning from a state convention in Philadelphia fell ill with mysterious, pneumonialike symptoms. Six of the 14 men died, the disease became known as Legionnaires’ Disease, and America prepared for an epidemic.
Source: The New York Times (free subscription may be required)
eMedicine provides data and statistics on Legionnaires’ Disease. “Since the initial identification of 235 cases in 1976, Legionnaires disease has become recognized as the most common cause of atypical pneumonia in hospitalized patients,” according to the report.
Source: Emedicine
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