ELIZABETH COOPER
Observer-Dispatch

Oneida County health officials announced Monday that two possible cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome were detected in the county over the weekend.

One case has been labeled as probable, and the other is being called a suspected case. Both individuals are adults who had recently returned from Toronto, where many SARS cases have been reported.

SARS has prompted concern worldwide since first being identified three months ago in China. The virus has proven to have a high death rate in Asia, and health officials have yet to fully understand how it works.

To maintain patient confidentiality, the names and workplaces of the individuals have not been released.

The Health Department also declined to disclose where in the county the people live, or even which area hospital made the diagnoses. The relationship between the two, if there is one, has not been revealed.

"This is not a cause for alarm," County Executive Ralph J. Eannace Jr. said Monday. "It is cause for heightened awareness."

The two patients went to the emergency room Saturday with SARS-like symptoms, County Epidemiologist Ken Shilkret said. They had been in Toronto the previous weekend.

Susan Blatt, a physician consultant with the county health department, said the patients have been asked to remain at home so they do not spread the disease if they have it.

Health officials stressed that people should not panic.

Of the 379 cases nationwide, there have been no fatalities, and none of the cases in New York state have been serious, said Kristine Smith, a spokeswoman for the New York State Health Department.

"Neither (patient) is very sick," said Blatt, a physician consultant with the health department. "They're a little disturbed right now about what's going on."

Health officials urged anyone who fears they may have SARS to contact a doctor immediately. For a SARS diagnosis, a patient must have recently been to Toronto or other SARS hotspot.

Symptoms include a fever of 100.4 degrees and respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath or cough.

Shilkret said the health department is working with the individuals' work places, families and the hospitals where they were diagnosed to monitor anyone who may have had contact with them.

If any of those people manifests symptoms, they will have to stay home for at least 72 hours. If the symptoms abate, they then will be allowed to return to work.

If not, they will continue to be monitored at home, Shilkret said.

Shilkret plans to interview the patients today to determine their movements while in Toronto. So far, he knows they did not go to any Toronto hospitals, but spent most of their time in the city's business district.

Smith said there have not been any instances of person-to-person SARS transmission in New York state, and all state cases were contracted elsewhere and contained.

Twenty-nine probable SARS cases have existed statewide outside New York City, including two in Jefferson County, five in Onondaga County and one in Broome County.

"We learn about (each case) very quickly because the surveillance here is very comprehensive," she said. "We are all looking very closely and moving very quickly when a potential case is identified."

Because the disease is so new, tests for SARS are still being refined, and no local facilities are equipped to perform them. Even the state Health Department must send its specimens to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Specimens from the two Oneida County patients will be sent away for testing.

Meanwhile, the patients are taking their temperatures twice a day and reporting the findings to the county health department by telephone, Shilkret said. They are not taking any medications, Blatt said.