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Mystery Virus Still Spreading, China Apologizes

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http://ens-news.com/ens/apr2003/2003-04-04-10.asp

 

Mystery Virus Still Spreading, China Apologizes

 

 

By J.R. Pegg

 

WASHINGTON, DC, April 4, 2003 (ENS) - Officials with the Chinese government

offered an unprecedented apology today for not quickly informing the public

about cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the flu like

respiratory disease that has now killed more than 80 people in Asia and Canada.

This unexpected announcement came as nations across much of the world wrestle

with the health and economic impacts of SARS. More than 2,300 people are now

infected with SARS worldwide.

Scientists worldwide continue to believe SARS is caused by a new form of the

coronavirus, but have yet to completely prove this theory.

The Chinese government has received sharp criticism from across the world for

its reluctance to cooperate with the global effort to determine the cause of

SARS, which first appeared in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong last

November.

" We apologize to everyone, " Li Liming, director of the Chinese Center for

Disease Control told reporters.

He said the Chinese government faulted its own poor coordination between the

nation's medical departments and its media. Chinese officials also confirmed

today the first case of SARS in Shanghai, the nation's most populous city. Hong

Kong is struggling to contain SARS, but health officials say most people are

recovering from the illness. (Photo courtesy LORD Cultural Resources Planning

and Management)China only began fully cooperating with the World Health

Organization (WHO) earlier this week. Scientists with the United Nations

organization are now in southern China investigating the virus, but they have

warned not to expect quick or easy answers.

WHO officials have indicated that the SARS virus could have jumped to humans

from an animal species. There are some 13 forms of the coronavirus, some which

infect humans, cattle, pigs, rodents, dogs and chickens.

Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say they are

increasingly confident that SARS is caused by a new form of coronavirus, which

could make it difficult to contain. Two forms of coronavirus cause one third of

all common colds and there are no know antiviral drugs shown to be consistently

successful in treating coronavirus infections.

" This does appear to be a contagious respiratory infection and you know how

difficult it is to control the common cold, " said CDC Director Julie Gerberding.

" Even influenza, where we have a vaccine, is an illness that still causes

infection in a large number of people.

" The global community has to take this very seriously and do everything we can

to curtail spread now and stay on top of it. "

Early signs show that the scientists in China are finding further evidence that

SARS is not just spread through direct contact.

" There is something in the environment, " said David Heymann, WHO's director of

communicable diseases.

On Monday, Hong Kong officials quarantined a block of the Amoy Gardens housing

complex because more than 200 people from this block had contracted SARS,

providing the possibility that the virus could be airborne or waterborne

because.

The investigation into the housing complex, called Amoy Gardens, is looking into

whether a burst sewage pipe could be linked to transmission of the virus.

Global air travel has been a major contributor to the global spread of SARS.

(Photo courtesy by Ian Britton courtesy FreeFoto.com)Hong Kong police are

hunting for 200 people from Amoy Gardens who have avoided the quarantine, which

is set to last through April 10.

Hong Kong officials said an additional 27 patients with symptoms of SARS where

admitted to public hospitals today. These include eight more people from the

Amoy Gardens housing complex, five healthcare workers and 14 new patients.

But Hong Kong Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said that

most of the patients already in hospital were responding very well to the

existing treatment with Ribavirin and steroids.

The WHO now estimates that the SARS virus is fatal for about four percent of

those infected, most often when the individual has an underlying condition. Some

90 percent of individuals appear to recover after a week of being infected.

Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said today they have

begun work on an early vaccine for SARS. The vaccine development assumes that

early indications the virus is a new form of the coronavirus.

" People are taking this unbelievably seriously, " said Dr. Brian Murphy, co-chief

of the laboratory of infectious diseases at the NIH's National Institute of

Allergy and Infectious Disease.

Even if efforts go smoothly, any proven vaccine is at least a year away and the

quick spread of SARS demonstrates the world's susceptibility to new infectious

diseases.

Within six weeks, SARS has spread to more than 15 countries across the world.

Asia has been hit the hardest, but there are confirmed cases in Canada, the

United States, Europe and Brazil. Australia and India now suspect they may have

individuals with SARS.

U.S. President George W. Bush today issued an executive order that would allow

the quarantine of patients with SARS. Some 100 Americans are believed to have

the virus.

Canada confirmed its seventh death from SARS today and it is the only country

outside of Asia to have suffered fatalities from the disease.

Although Canadian authorities believe they have SARS well contained, fears over

the disease prompted the cancellation of a five day meeting of the American

Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The meeting was to be held in Toronoto,

with an estimated 16,000 people expected to attend from around the world.

The decision to cancel the meeting came on Thursday, two days after attendees

had been informed that the meeting would carry on as scheduled. The

cancellation of a meeting expected to draw 16,000 has added to Toronto's SARS

woes. (Photo courtesy City of Toronto)Canadian health officials said the

cancellation was unnecessary and tried to assure the public that the virus was

not a significant threat.

Toronto officials say the city could lose some $13 million ($20 million

Canadian) from decreased tourist revenues because of the SARS scare.

SARS has caused economic shockwaves across the world, through cancellations of

global concerts and sporting events in Hong Kong and China, and a further

decline in world travel.

On Wednesday, WHO officially warned travelers not to travel to Hong Kong or

Guangdong province unless absolutely necessary and countries around the world

have stepped up screening for individuals arriving from Asian countries with

confirmed SARS cases.

Thailand officials say the impact on the country's economy from SARS is worse

than the U.S. war on Iraq. Toronto officials said the city's tourist losses

resulting from the SARS scare could reach C$20 million ($13 million).

Hong Kong officials report that 10 percent of flights into the city have been

cancelled in the past three days.

For many, the SARS outbreak is a precursor of what is to come. Infectious

diseases are nothing new, but global travel facilitates the spreading of such

diseases and the ability of individual nations, and the world as a whole, to

respond is being called into question.

" We live in a global village and we must be prepared to deal with emerging

infections on a regular basis, " CDC's Gerberding said. " That is really the

pattern that we are seeing increasingly as our global village becomes more dense

with people, and has more travel. "

 

 

 

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Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2003

 

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