Sars circus comes to Toronto

By Richard Black BBC science correspondent in Toronto

Experts gathered in Toronto

As I boarded my flight at 1305 London time on Tuesday, Toronto was officially an unsafe city to visit.

By the time I landed, six hours and thirty-five minutes later, it was officially safe again.

Which was presumably why, on coming through the customs hall, all of two people were wearing the face-masks we'd heard so much about. They obviously hadn't heard the news.

Diseases are messy and difficult

Canada called its Sars conference a few weeks ago as a low-key affair.

Scientist would speak unto scientist, plotting painstakingly their strategies against this mystery pneumonia.

Then came the World Health Organisation's advice to travellers to avoid Toronto.

Suddenly the city had a billion-dollar incentive to show off its cleanliness.

The conference was hastily up-graded to feature top-name scientists, the aristocracy of the global health community and of course, reporters from all over, their mere presence demonstrating that Toronto was Sars-free - and safe.

Massed journalist ranks

So it was that I found myself at 0830 sharp on Wednesday at the opening session, standing in the doorway of the Sheraton's Dominion Ballroom, open-mouthed at the impressive size of the milling throng.

If the conference was designed to tell us how much we know about Sars, it is in fact telling us how little we know.

Then I looked beyond the journalists' section.

I wasn't seeing things, jet-lag or no. Half of the people in the room at least were there not to share their expertise, but to report on it - all that high-level epidemiology, microbiology and astrology.

Astrology? Sure. The history of Sars - at least, outside mainland China - has been documented in unprecedented detail.

The Toronto authorities know details of every case as though the city depends on it - which I guess in a way it does, if the forecasts of economic damage stemming from the WHO's travel advisory are anything like correct.

But the future? Well, there is an unanswerable question.

Can isolation eradicate the virus? Possibly. Will it mutate into a more lethal form? Don't know. Given its genetic instability, is a vaccine feasible? Perhaps.

If the conference was designed to tell us how much we know about Sars, it is in fact telling us how little we know.

Doubt over cause

Two weeks ago we knew it was caused by a coronavirus.

Now it seems the virus is only found in around 40% of patients.

Yet other people - ill, but appparently not with Sars - test positive for coronavirus.

Which only proves what we should know already; diseases aren't conveniently measurable things like bank balances or shelving.

They're messy and difficult. Just as we scrutinised the invasion of Iraq in minute detail, and asked questions hours, days, even months before answers could conceivably be available, we are now asking the unanswerable of scientists trying to get to grips with Sars.

Or we would be, if we could get near the scientists. It hasn't been terribly easy.

The main speakers - the top Canadians, naturally, plus the odd American - are paraded for the press but the really interesting stuff is going on behind closed doors.

At least I presume it is - could be journalist's paranoia. But I'd like to find out.

I came here with the hope of finding the latest Sars science - the details behind the easy headlines of death tolls, deadly viruses and mutant killers.

But all I can see are the shoulders of the TV crews in front of me.

And does it feel safe here, in the killer mutant virus capital of north America? Safer than driving in Paris, that's for sure.