WHO lifts SARS travel warnings

[Guest guest]

Taken from News: http://uk.news./030523/80/e0nw6.html

 

By Carrie Lee and Alice Hung

 

 

HONG KONG/TAIPEI (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) has

withdrawn its warning against travel to Hong Kong and the southern

Chinese province of Guangdong, saying the SARS outbreaks there are

under control.

 

 

The U.N. health agency said that while the spread of the lethal flu-

like virus on Taiwan was " worrisome " , as the island reported 55 new

cases on Friday, it did not suggest " an explosive escalation " .

 

 

WHO issued its travel alerts on April 2 when the disease was

spreading rapidly in Hong Kong, which has the highest number of cases

and deaths from SARS outside mainland China.

 

 

The new disease is believed to have first emerged in Guangdong in

November but only reached neighbouring Hong Kong in March. It was

then spread around the world by travellers.

 

 

" We are changing the travel advice for Hong Kong and Guangdong,

effective Friday, 23 May, " WHO director-general Gro Harlem Brundtland

said in a statement.

 

 

" The outbreaks in Guangdong and in Hong Kong are being contained. "

 

 

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has infected more than 8,000 people

worldwide and killed 682 since emerging in southern China late last

year.

 

 

The illness, fatal in about 15 percent of cases, is caused by a virus

linked to the common cold and has no standard treatment. It is spread

by coughing, sneezing or touching infected objects. Symptoms include

a fever, dry cough and shortness of breath.

 

 

HONG KONG CASES

 

 

Hong Kong said on Friday SARS had killed two more people in the

territory and infected two others, the 20th day in a row that daily

infections there have been in single digits.

 

 

The figures bring the death toll from SARS in Hong Kong to 260 and

the cumulative number of cases to 1,724, a hospital official said.

 

 

China reported three more deaths and another 20 infections in the 24

hours to 0200 GMT (3 a.m. British time) on Friday, taking its totals

to 303 deaths and 5,285 cases.

 

 

Canada was investigating four possible cases, a week after it was

declared SARS-free, in a grim reminder of the resilience of a disease

for which there is no vaccine or standard treatment.

 

 

The new infections in Taiwan took the number of probable SARS cases

there to 538, behind only China and Hong Kong, and followed a record

daily increase of 65 cases on Thursday.

 

 

" While the daily numbers of new cases indicate the size of the SARS

outbreak in Taiwan, which is worrisome, they do not suggest an

explosive escalation in the number of cases, as both older and new

cases are being reported together on a daily basis, " the WHO said in

a statement published on its website.

 

 

The U.N. agency said it would send another two people to non-member

Taiwan to reinforce a two-person team sent there in early May to help

the island cope with the disease.

 

 

An infection control specialist from the U.S. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention was airlifted from Taiwan to the United States

after he went down with SARS-like symptoms including a fever and

muscle pain.

 

 

The Sheraton Taipei Hotel, where the U.S. expert had been staying,

has closed for three days for disinfection.

 

 

The WHO said it wanted $200 million (121.9 million pounds) to help

developing countries fight the virus, half of it for China.

 

 

Health officials fear SARS could become more lethal if it erupted in

Africa where countries are already ravaged by AIDS.

 

Attilio