SARS virus may be airborne

Herald Sun By MANDI ZONNEVELDT, health reporter 01apr03

FRESH outbreaks of the deadly SARS virus have led to fears it may be airborne.

Almost 100 more cases of the killer flu were reported in Hong Kong yesterday, with authorities forced to isolate an entire housing block where 213 people had been infected.

Until now, experts have believed the deadly disease could only be spread by droplets expelled by a cough or sneeze.

But United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr Julie Gerberding said the rapid spread of the virus suggested it could be airborne.

"We are concerned about the possibility of airborne transmission across broader areas and by objects handled by those who have been infected," she said.

"The potential for infecting large numbers of people is very great.

"So we may be in the very early stages of what could be a much larger problem."

Hong Kong Director of Health Margaret Chan also refused to rule out the possibility of the virus being airborne.

Australian travellers are cancelling trips to Asia as the SARS toll climbs, with at least 59 now dead -- including a fourth Canadian victim -- and more than 1600 infected.

Australians who heed the Health Department's warning to "reconsider" travel to Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Vietnam stand to lose their money.

Insurance Council of Australia spokeswoman Sandie Watson said

most travel insurers would refuse to cover people who cancelled trips to Asia in the absence of an official government travel warning.

"If you just cancel out of concern you may not be covered," she said.

"We always advise people to check with their travel insurer before cancelling any trip."

Taylor's Lakes man Ken Goodwill, who has paid for a trip to Singapore and Thailand in May, yesterday expressed his frustration at the situation.

"If you've pre-paid your flight and accommodation, you're in a lose-lose situation now," he said.

"You lose your money if you cancel and if you go there and get stuck in a situation where you can't travel you also lose.

"I won't be travelling unless things pick up and it's going to cost me thousands of dollars."

Health experts are yet to find a cure for SARS, now believed to be a previously unseen strain of the same virus that causes the common cold.

Queensland University's Dr John Mackenzie and Curtin University of Technology professor Aileen Plant are joining a World Health Organisation team investigating the source of the outbreak.