Dr. Sheela Basrur, shown addressing a special SARS economic impact council meeting at City Hall in Toronto in April 2003, was given the Order of Ontario for her leadership during the SARS crisis. (Tibor Kolley/Canadian Press)

Dr. Sheela Basrur, who became a trusted source of information through the SARS crisis in Toronto in 2003 as the medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, has died, according to a spokesperson for the family. She was 51.

Basrur was most recently Ontario's chief medical officer. She resigned in December 2006 after being diagnosed with a rare soft-tissue and blood vessel cancer — hemangiopericytoma.

In April, Basrur was awarded the Order of Ontario for public service for her leadership during the deadly SARS outbreak.

"She was always involved in public health — she saw this as her calling," Dr. Donald Low, microbiologist-in-chief at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, told CBC News on Monday. "But it was really SARS that brought her to the public's attention."

"It's clear that she was able to capture the confidence of the people of Ontario, particularly Toronto," he said.

Low said that Basrur has been a fighter "who never complained about her problems," despite being given a difficult diagnosis.

"She was always positive," he said.

The family spokesperson says a private funeral will be held.