01 April 2003
SARS Cases, Countries Affected Still Rising
(More than 1800 cases in 15 countries) (680)
The number of individuals and nations affected by a newly emerging
respiratory disease increased again on April 1, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO).
The U.N. health agency says that the severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) caseload has continued to mount since an alert was issued on
March 15, and that the disease has moved beyond the several Asian
nations in which it first appeared, with new cases being reported in
North America, Europe and now Australia.
Following is the text of the WHO update:
(begin text)
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) multi-country outbreak
Update on cases and countries
Disease Outbreak Reported
1 April 2003
As of today, a cumulative total of 1804 cases of severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS) and 62 deaths have been reported from 15
countries. This represents an increase of 182 cases and 4 deaths
compared with the previous day.
The largest increase occurred in Hong Kong, where 155 new cases were
reported. This brings the cumulative total of cases in Hong Kong to
685 cases with 16 deaths.
Of the four new SARS deaths, three occurred in Hong Kong. The fourth
death was reported in Singapore.
China remains the country with the largest number of cases. According
to official reports, 806 cases with 34 deaths have occurred. The
majority of these cases and deaths were associated with an outbreak in
Guangdong Province. During that outbreak, authorities recorded 792
cases and 31 deaths from 16 November 2002 through 28 February.
Other countries reporting additional cases include Canada (9), Taiwan,
China (3), Italy (1) Singapore (1), Thailand (1), and the United
States of America (10). Australia and Belgium reported their first
probable cases today.
In Viet Nam, where hospitals in Hanoi were among the earliest to
experience a rapid burst of cases within a health care setting, the
number of cases (58) and deaths (4) remained stable for the eighth day
in a row. The incubation period for SARS is currently believed to
range from two to 10 days. WHO epidemiologists regard an eight-day
period with no newly detected cases as an encouraging sign that the
outbreak in Hanoi has been controlled and that no further spread is
occurring beyond the initial hospital foci.
Singapore, another country that was hard hit at the beginning of the
epidemic, is likewise showing a stable pattern, with cases confined to
well-documented risk groups and few new cases being detected.
An evolving epidemic SARS is a newly identified disease with
transmission patterns that are only beginning to emerge and thus
difficult to interpret. Much about the disease remains poorly
understood, despite great progress in characterization of the
causative virus and development of a robust diagnostic test.
Particularly puzzling are the great differences between areas where
outbreaks appear to have been fairly rapidly contained and confined to
health care settings and persons in close face-to-face contact with
patients, and other areas, such as Hong Kong and Toronto, where
transmission is continuing despite the prompt isolation of patients
and introduction of strict barrier nursing practices.
WHO has established a set of priority issues requiring urgent
scientific investigation. More studies are needed about how the
disease is spread, the stages of the disease when virus is shed, which
bodily secretions carry the virus, and whether certain secretions are
more infectious than others. Researchers also need to understand
whether persons infected with SARS become more infectious at a certain
stage in the course of the disease, and whether factors such as age or
underlying disease influence severity and prognosis.
Some of the world's foremost scientists and clinicians are now
collaborating around the clock, through three WHO networks of
"virtual" labs and clinics, to find answers to these questions.
Evidence can then form the basis for more precise public health advice
on how to prevent further spread both internationally and within those
countries where cases have occurred. Based on more than five decades
of experience, WHO maintains the position that good surveillance and
response will contain any infectious diseases.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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