Rural Quarantine Camps For Residents Of SARS-Infected Building

<a href=www.kxan.com>KXAN36 News 04/01/03 - 11:21 am

Hong Kong -- The Hong Kong government is moving 240 people who live in an apartment building to rural quarantine camps.

The building had been sealed off because of an outbreak of the mystery illness that's prompted a global health alert.

Authorities are moving the residents because they fear they can't stop the spread of the disease, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The deputy director of health says environmental factors in the building may be causing the disease to spread -- though he did not say what these factors are.

Some have speculated a sewage leak was spreading the disease among residents of apartment units at one end of the building. Hong Kong reportedly now has nearly 700 cases of SARS.

Chinese authorities are urging doctors treating such patients to disinfect everything they touch and to wear multi-layer surgical masks.

The disease has killed more than 60 people worldwide and sickened hundreds of others.