Guest guest Posted April 29, 2003 Report Share Posted April 29, 2003 http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1346560,00.html Moscow - The deadly pneumonia that has killed more than 100 people aroundthe world may be a man-made biological weapon, Russian experts said onFriday. Nikolai Filatov, head of Moscow's epidemiological services, toldthe Gazeta daily that he thought the pneumonia was man-made because "thereis no vaccine for this virus, its make-up is unclear, it has not been verywidespread and the population is not immune to it." Yet he had somereservations, since the virus has a low mortality rate - so far killing 4%of those infected -, and because it is relatively difficult to pass on -through direct contact or inhalation. The virus, according to academy ofmedecine member Sergei Kolesnikov, is a cocktail of mumps and measles,whose mix could never appear in nature. "We can only get that in alaboratory," he told a conference in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, quotedby RIA Novosti news agency. It may have spread because of an "accidentalleak" from a lab, he added. More than 100 people have died and some 3 000others have been infected by Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars),which is believed to have originated in China's southern Guangdongprovince. http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1346560,00.htmlhttp://english.pravda.ru/region/2003/04/10/45919.html Atypical Pneumonia Virus Cannot Be Barred from Moscow Over 20,000 passengers arriving in Moscow from the countries of Southeast Asia and Europe which reported cases of atypical pneumonia have been examined at Moscow's air and railway terminals, Nikolai Filatov said to journalists on Tuesday. He is the chief state sanitary physician of Moscow. Additional measures to prevent atypical pneumonia from getting into Moscow have been taken at border automobile passes, airports and railway stations, he said. As of now, five suspicious cases of the disease import have been registered in Moscow. Luckily, the preliminary diagnoses have not proved true. Still, "the import of this disease to Moscow cannot be ruled out," said Filatov. The Moscow authorities have set up an anti-epidemiological commission, which will do work in several directions. It is, above all, "case-detection organisational steps". They are - stocking up reserves of interferon, hormonal preparations, antibiotics, gauze bandages, preparation of infection cubicles in two clinical hospitals, issue of leaflets calling on people not to go to "dangerous" countries if unnecessary, prevention of illegal migration. If cases of atypical pneumonia spring up, the commission will take emergency measures, such as revealing contacts and putting them in isolation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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