Chinese turn to the occult to ward off SARS epidemic

[Guest guest]

Chinese turn to the occult to ward off SARS epidemic

 

May 14, 2003

 

BY AUDRA ANG

ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

BEIJING -- They're hiring sorcerers. Lighting firecrackers.

Following advice reputed to be from a mystical talking baby.

Across China, thousands of people are turning to the supernatural

to fight SARS.

 

Reports of the activities from widely scattered areas across the

nation come as the Health Ministry said Tuesday that the disease

now has killed at least 262 people on the mainland. More than

5,000 others are infected.

 

In the central province of Hunan, villagers hoping to avoid

severe acute respiratory syndrome seek help from sorcerers in

incense-infused rites, according to local officials and

newspapers.Some burn fake money as an offering to the gods.

 

He Dazhi, a reporter for the Sanxiang Metropolitan News, wrote

that believers are asked to bow to spiritual scrolls or a statue

of Buddha. Gongs or drums occasionally accompany the ceremony.

 

" SARS is completely unknown to many farmers, " He wrote. " Their

fear of infection has been used by sorcerers to have them rely on

 

superstition instead of science. "

 

On Tuesday, World Health Organization investigators who visited

northern Hebei province said migrant workers had carried the

virus to rural areas.

 

The announcement confirmed worries that SARS, still largely an

urban disease in China, might spread to the countryside. Experts

say a lack of doctors and hospitals there could make any outbreak

a catastrophe.

 

In Beijing, news reports said quarantines on three hospitals and

a residential neighborhood have been lifted, though a WHO

specialist said it was too early to say the peak of the capital's

epidemic was past.

 

" It is quite possible that in another week we'll see an upsurge

in cases, if there are undetected clusters or outbreaks

occurring, " said Dr. Keiji Fukuda.

 

Meanwhile in Guizhou province, firecrackers crackled through the

city of Liupanshui after a rumor spread that a deaf man spoke

after years of silence and said the virus would disappear if

fireworks were set off May 6, according to a policeman who would

give only his surname, Tang. Similar firecracker displays were

reported in other cities.

 

Gao Binzhong, a professor of folklore study at Peking University,

 

said the popularity of magic in response to SARS is natural.

 

" People not only need a medical explanation, but also a cultural

and psychological explanation, " Gao said. " It is understandable

that people with various backgrounds explain the uncertainty in

their own way. "

 

In SARS news Tuesday:

 

The worldwide death toll reached at least 580, with more than

7,400 cases reported.

 

Canada's death toll rose to 24. Most of the more than 140

Canadian cases and all 24 deaths have been in the Toronto area.

 

The Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain added the Philippines to its

banned visitor list that includes China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,

Singapore and Vietnam

 

http://www.freep.com/news/health/sars14_20030514.htm

 

 

 

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