TORONTO -- As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise, including the first confirmed case in the U.S., so do concerns over the potential for an outbreak similar to the deadly 2003 SARS epidemic.

But experts say the Canadian health care system is well equipped to handle any potential coronavirus cases thanks to the lessons learned during the SARS outbreak, which led to the deaths of 44 Canadians and 774 people worldwide.

There are 鈥渉uge differences鈥� between medical preparedness then and now, said microbiologist Allison McGeer.

鈥淭he science behind diagnosing viral illness has advanced so much in the last 17 years,鈥� McGeer told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Wednesday. McGeer, who works at Mount Sinai Hospital, was on the ground during the 2003 outbreak in Toronto. She even contracted the virus herself.

鈥淭his (new coronavirus) was a disease that was recognized on Dec. 29 and 10 days later we have identified the virus, we have a sequence, we can test for it. That鈥檚 incredibly faster than we could manage in 2003,鈥� she said.

Health officials didn鈥檛 confirm SARS was a coronavirus until the mid-way point of the outbreak. The new illness, as a novel coronavirus, falls under a larger family of coronaviruses which includes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

An expert WHO panel is set to meet Wednesday to decide whether an international emergency should be declared. On Tuesday, the U.S. became the fifth country to report a case of the illness, following China, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. The man returned to the Seattle area last week after travelling to the Wuhan area, where the outbreak began. Officials say the man, in his 30s, is in hospital in good condition.

No cases have been reported in Canada, and the country鈥檚 chief public health officer said there is no reason for panic as the risk to Canadians remains low.

Ontario鈥檚 Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams said hospitals are already employing protocols established during the 2003 SARS outbreak in anticipation of any Canadian cases.

鈥淲e鈥檙e getting calls already from hospitals and others that have clients they鈥檝e seen that are concerned because they had some travel history to China,鈥� Williams told 麻豆影视 Channel Tuesday. 鈥淲e still have no cases in Canada, but that doesn鈥檛 mean we shouldn鈥檛 be aware of that and shouldn鈥檛 be alert to setting out systems up and being prepared in case that does occur.鈥�

NOT EASILY TRANSMITTED

There are at least two significant differences between the Wuhan coronavirus and SARS that have already been identified, added McGeer.

The first is that the illness doesn鈥檛 appear to transmit well in hospitals. During the SARS outbreak, 43 per cent of cases were health care workers.

鈥淪ARS was a major problem because people were very infectious when they developed severe illness,鈥� said McGeer. While the new coronavirus has been transmitted to some health care workers in Wuhan, the numbers are much smaller than the SARS outbreak.

The second key difference that is reassuring health care experts is that the coronavirus doesn鈥檛 appear to be easily transmitted from person-to-person. But the case is developing day-by-day, said McGeer.

鈥淚t is transmitted to some extent from person-to-person but it doesn鈥檛 look, at the moment, as if it is transmitted enough from person to person for us to worry about it at the distance we are from Wuhan,鈥� she said.

鈥淪o far, all of the cases have come from Wuhan or had very close links to Wuhan.鈥�

CROWDED HOSPITALS THE ULTIMATE 鈥楽TRESS TEST鈥�

But the proficiency of these systems could be challenged by overcrowded emergency rooms.

鈥淪ARS came to a hospital in Toronto in 2003. One case made three cases, three cases made 12 cases, and so on, and so on,鈥� David Fisman, infectious disease expert and professor at the University of Toronto鈥檚 Dalla Lana School of Public Health, told CTVNews.ca by phone Tuesday.

鈥淲hat you see here is a bug that is behaving just like SARS did; just like MERS did鈥� What we know from our experience from SARS is that we do have vulnerability in Toronto from hospital outbreaks.鈥�

Fisman said that it鈥檚 likely Canada could see a case of coronavirus considering the number of Chinese nationals and Chinese-Canadians who live here, or have family here.

鈥淚n general, that should be no big deal outside of the healthcare context,鈥� he explained.

鈥淭he difficulty is just the physical plant. People come to you, they鈥檙e sick and you can鈥檛 say go away. We don鈥檛 have a lot of space especially in our ERs.鈥�

Overcrowding, especially during the height of flu season, is the perfect breeding ground for these types of outbreaks, Fisman said.

鈥淚 think people are more knowledgeable, and it鈥檚 a totally different world now in terms of how people with respiratory issues are handled,鈥� he added.

鈥淭his is our stress test. Did we learn enough from SARS to not drop the ball this time?鈥�