TORONTO — The war against the “viral time bomb” Hepatitis C virus (HCV), an infection that afflicts nearly 180 million worldwide, has become clinically imperative. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control – and its counterpart in Canada, the Public Health Agency — recommend that home health care providers and health care workers use latex gloves, wash their hands regularly and sterilize instruments to reduce the risk of spreading HCV, which can cause liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver. Experts, including Dr. Tom Wong, Center for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada, also advise infected patients not to donate blood, organs, tissues or semen, or share sharp items potentially contaminated with blood — e.g., razors, nail clippers, scissorsand toothbrushes. As no laboratory parameters definitively predict which persons infected with HCV will develop cirrhosis or will respond to medical therapy, according to the National Institutes of Health, prevention has become the key to successful management.