Military

DATE=4/28/03

TYPE=English Feature

NUMBER=7-37404

TITLE=SARS Overview

BYLINE=David Clements

TELEPHONE=202 205-0539

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=faith lapidus

CONTENT=

INTRO: The Virus known as SARS continues to spread around the world. At last check, a dozen countries had reported cases. So far, the official death toll from SARS around the world is over 230 people. The United States has remained relatively unscathed, with no fatalities so far. But just north of the U-S border in Toronto, Ontario the number of SARS infections has grown to 140 (check before airing) and 16 deaths (also confirm this stat) making Canada the most infected country outside Asia. The World Health Organization even issued a warning against travel to Toronto, slowing tourism and forcing the cancellation of several business conferences.

VOA's David Clements takes a look at SARS and what some are doing to try to prevent further spread of the illness in the U-S and abroad.

TEXT: SARS is in the same family as the common cold and pneumonia. The symptoms resemble a cold -- fever, headache, body aches. maybe a cough or shortness of breath. And although the prognosis for SARS is grimmer than for a cold, Judy Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control, told CBS TV that people shouldn't necessarily be alarmed if they happen to have similar symptoms.

TAPE: DR JUDY GERBERDING ,DIRECTOR OF THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL

"The first thing is have you traveled to the part of Southeast Asia or

other countries where this disease is epidemic? If you haven't traveled

or you're not in contact with someone who has recently traveled. Then

right now you wouldn't have to worry about SARS, at least in this

country. If you have that travel history or exposure, then the symptoms

are pretty nonspecific. The illness starts like a common cold or any

viral illness. It can progress to become a phenomena syndrome and it's

that phenomena that we're concerned about."

TEXT: However, the CDC Director says if a patient is concerned, it doesn't hurt to contact a physician.

Estimates of the SARS fatality rate have fluctuated widely, especially by country. However, over the last three weeks, The World Health Organization's estimates stayed fairly constant. at about four percent of those infected. That number may not sound high, but it does have Dr. C J Peters at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, quite concerned.

TAPE: Dr. Peters - 1918 Influenza Outbreak

"Our paradigm here should be the 1918 influenza outbreak. It represented an entirely new disease. It had exchanged genes with other influenza strains and shaken itself up to become a new disease against which nobody had any immunity. The mortality from that virus was about 1% of all those who were ill. And yet in spite of the relatively low mortality it's believed to have killed 20-40 million people worldwide."

TEXT: He says if this virus is as contagious as the one in 1918, no country will be immune from SARS.

The airline industry has been the focus of how SARS has traveled from country to country so quickly. Some airlines in Asia are screening every passenger. taking their temperature to weed out potential carriers of the disease.

Mark Cabana is an English teacher with the Peace Corps who recently returned from Mainland China. He was called home twenty-seven months before he was originally scheduled to leave, because of the SARS outbreak. He said that when compared to Asia, at U-S airports, the approach to finding potential carriers of SARS virus has been a bit more subdued.

TAPE: Mark2

"No, there was no quarantine period, which they've done in other places

like Toronto and Hong Kong. But for us if we were just exhibiting any

symptoms, they wanted us to talk to the medical office. So even people

that had a slight cough or low fever were checked out by the medical

staff."

TEXT: However, it can take a few days for the symptoms of SARS to show up, which can make spotting infections in the airport more difficult. So what can be done to keep SARS under control? Richard Preston has written several books on Smallpox, Antrax and other diseases. He says that past experiences with viruses similar to SARS have shown that in some cases, vaccines have caused even more ill effects than the actual virus itself. In addition, a vaccine will likely take a minimum of a year to develop. Mr. Preston told NBC that public policy may be the best answer to SARS and illnesses like it.

TAPE: Richard PRESTON

"Within a decade or so, the human species, 60 percent of the people are going to live in cities. It's going to be an urban population. This SARS virus looks like an urban virus and it's going to be very important to have a strong and very vigilant public health system."

TEXT: According to the CDC, SARS appears to spread by close person-to-person contact. which can include touching the skin of other people or objects that are contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. It may also be possible that SARS can be spread more broadly through the air or in other ways that are currently not known. If you must be in close contact with someone who has the disease, wash your hands frequently and consider wearing a surgical mask.

For more information about SARS, contact the CDC or the World Health Organization. I'm David Clements.