<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.

ANSA IT

ROMA - In Italia la diffusione della Sindrome acuta respiratoria severa (Sars) e' ''un problema quasi irrilevante'', ha detto oggi il ministro della Salute, Girolamo Sirchia, a margine della presentazione delle iniziative antifumo sui treni regionali. Il ministro ha consigliato cautela ai viaggiatori diretti in aree a rischio, come quelle dell'Estremo Oriente, nelle quali cioe' e' provata la trasmissione locale della Sars. ''Se non c'e' l'assoluta necessita' di partire, e' meglio rimandare il viaggio, in attesa di vedere come di evolve l'epidemia nelle aree a rischio''. Sono due i casi sospetti in Italia. Lo ha confermato il ministro della Salute, Girolamo Sirchia: uno allo Spallanzani di Roma e l'altro al Sacco di Milano. ''I casi individuati finora - ha detto il ministro - sono sospetti per definizione finche' non sara' isolato l'agente responsabile. Soltanto allora ci sara' la certezza''. STEWARD SPALLANZANI RESTA IN ISOLAMENTO - Resta in isolamento, anche se attenuato rispetto a quello totale degli scorsi giorni, lo steward ricoverato all'istituto Spallanzani di Roma perche' presentava i sintomi della Sindrome acuta respiratoria severa. L'uomo, spiegano i medici, e' senza febbre e per questo hanno deciso di trasferirlo dal reparto di isolamento totale a quello di isolamento respiratorio e da contatto. ''Il paziente - sostengono i medici dell'istituto romano - sta meglio, e' senza febbre ma resta in costante osservazione''. Proseguono in laboratorio gli esami sui virus e batteri prelevati dallo steward per accertare se l'uomo sia stato colpito dalla polmonite atipica. Le condizioni del paziente, aggiunge l'Istituto nel bollettino sanitario della mattina, ''sono nettamente migliorate sia sul piano clinico che delle indagini strumentali e sono definibili soddisfacenti''. Lo steward, di 25 anni, di nazionalita' cinese, rispondeva al momento del ricovero, aggiunge lo Spallanzani, ''ai criteri clinico-epidemiologici dettati dall'Oms per i sospetti casi di Sindrome acuta respiratoria severa (Sars)''. MISURE NEGLI AEROPORTI - Misure sanitarie sono state adottate all'aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci di Roma per accrescere la vigilanza contro il diffondersi della polmonite atipica scoppiata in alcuni paesi dell'Asia. Ai passeggeri in arrivo o in transito a Fiumicino dalle zone infette - nella lista dell'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanita' compaiono: Toronto, Hong Kong, Uangdong, Pechino, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore ed Hanoi - i medici della sanita' aerea, subito dopo lo sbarco in aeroporto, forniscono, stampate su appositi foglietti illustrativi scritti in varie lingue, informazioni sul virus e sulla sintomatologia della malattia, ad esempio la febbre alta. Il foglietto invita chi dovesse nei giorni successivi allo sbarco avvertire qualche sintomo o avere anche solo sospetti, a contattare le autorita' mediche del luogo in cui si trova. Dieci giorni durante i quali i viaggiatori dovranno stare con gli occhi aperti e segnalando al proprio medico eventuali sintomi. ALTRE DUE VITTIME IN CANADA - Un paziente affetto da Sars, o 'sindrome respiratoria acuta grave', stando a fonti mediche ufficiali dello stato dell'Ontario, e' deceduto ieri sera e un altro stamani, portando a sei il numero delle persone uccise in Canada dall'infezione causata da un nuovo virus, che sembra appartenere alla famiglia dei virus del raffreddore. Nell'Ontario, lo stato dove si sono registrati quasi tutti i casi di infezione da Sars e dove e' stata dichiarata l'emergenza sanitaria, sono 124 le persone contagiate dalla malattia. OMS: BILANCIO VITTIME E CAUSE - Potrebbe essere il bestiame delle regioni del sud della Cina la fonte della polmonite anomala che ha provocato 64 decessi in tutto il mondo e colpito circa 1700 persone. E' quanto sostiene un portavoce dell'Organizzazione mondiale della sanita', citata dalla France Presse. L'Oms, in particolare, sta lavorando all' ipotesi che l' epidemia abbia avuto origine nel sud della Cina dove molte persone vivono vicino agli allevamenti di animali, soprattutto maiali, polli e anatre. Peter Cordingley, portavoce dell' Oms della sede di Manila, ha detto che ''in questa fase non diciamo che gli animali siano la causa, ma certamente e' una cosa che esaminiamo nel quadro generale''. MERCOLEDI' I FUNERALI DI CARLO URBANI - Alla memoria del medico italiano il presidente della Repubblica, Carlo Azelio Ciampi, assegnera' una medaglia d'oro ai benemeriti della salute pubblica, riconoscimento proposto dal ministro della Salute. 01/04/2003 16:37

The Herald Sun By MANDI ZONNEVELDT, health reporter 02apr03

FLIGHTS coming into Australia will be forced to get quarantine clearance in a bid to prevent the deadly SARS virus spreading here.

From today, pilots will have to declare whether they are carrying passengers with flu-like symptoms before they land.

Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer Professor Richard Smallwood announced the move as Australia confirmed its first suspected case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The suspected victim recovered before the World Health Organisation issued its alert last month.

The man, a British tourist in his 60s, was treated at a Sydney hospital and stayed in Australia for 10 days but did not spread the disease.

Officials made the diagnosis retrospectively and notified WHO.

Professor Smallwood said Australians need not be alarmed.

"Be aware that SARS is not in Australia yet," Professor Smallwood said.

"That one case is all we've seen but it hasn't spread in Australia," he said. "There is no risk to anyone in Australia as a result of (the sick man) being in the country."

Professor Smallwood said that people who arrived in Australia with SARS symptoms would not be turned away.

He said they would receive medical treatment with an appropriate level of infection control to stop the disease spreading.

The world-wide death toll from SARS is now 62. More than than 1700 people have been infected.

Three Australians with SARS symptoms, two in Sydney and one in Canberra, were being investigated by health officials.

The WHO revealed yesterday that the virus may have originated in farm animals in southern China.

Hitoshi Oshitani, a WHO expert in communicable diseases, said many emerging diseases came from viruses crossing species barriers.

The spread of SARS across the globe has caused panic.

Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific will make masks available to passengers and crew on flights out of Asia.

Melbourne pharmacies have been struggling to keep up with the demand for the masks.

Health officials said yesterday there was no evidence the masks prevented disease spread.

Tooronga Village pharmacist Andrew Robinson expects a delivery of masks tomorrow.

"We normally do one or two a month," he said.

He sold out a week ago.

"We keep some, but we've had so many inquiries. It's really freaking people out," he said.

Australians have been warned to reconsider travel to Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Vietnam, with hundreds cancelling trips.

Other countries, including the US and Canada, have warned their citizens not to travel to those countries.

The disease has also affected Australian staff and businesses in Asia.

Australian companies with Asian branches, particularly those in Singapore and Hong Kong, have suspended non-essential travel and asked staff to work from home in a bid to stem potential outbreaks.

By Wei Gu REUTERS 5:00 a.m., April 1, 2003

NEW YORK – For travel agencies serving Chinatowns across the United States, an Asian-centered outbreak of a deadly illness could not have come at a worse time, with the war in Iraq already making travelers think twice about booking overseas flights.

The illness, known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, has killed about 60 people worldwide, many of them in Asia, and infected more than 1,600 since emerging in southern China in November. News of the disease's impact has led to a dramatic drop in reservations from Asians flying from the United States to China, Hong Kong and other regional destinations, travel agencies say.

Since reports about the sickness began circulating about two weeks ago, New York City-based Paradise Vacations has lost 80 percent of its business and is now running at an average of just 100 air tickets a month, down from 500 per month a year ago, said its general manager David Lo. The travel agency went from having 100 customers traveling to China each month to just 10.

While some of the decline may have been due to concerns about flying while the war rages in Iraq, Lo says he is certain the biggest culprit is the mystery respiratory illness.

"The war won't cost your life because the bombs are not being dropped in China, but the virus will kill you," he said.

Chinese-language papers published in Chinatowns across the country have been carrying often alarmist headlines about the illness, with war coverage often taking a backseat.

The SARS outbreak has also led to concerns among the broader American community about booking trips to China. Kevin Starke, who works in a brokerage research department, said he may cancel his July trip to Hong Kong unless the situation improves.

"Hong Kong is very crowded. If there is an airborne virus spreading in a place like that, you will have a very good chance of getting it," he said.

"I just don't think I will risk one, dying, and two, getting very sick, having to spend a month in a hospital," Starke said. "I may (have to) be quarantined, have permanent lung damage, or spread that to the people that I return home to."

Hong Kong remains the most severely affected area outside of mainland China, with more than 530 cases, according to the World Health Organization figures – many of whom are in intensive care – and there have been some 15 deaths.

WORLDWIDE ALARMS

The travel agencies in New York's Chinese communities were already suffering from the impact of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the economic downturn and the uncertainties surrounding the war. Manhattan's Chinatown is only about a mile from the site of the destroyed World Trade Center.

The spreading disease has dealt another blow to the airline industry. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Monday it had cut 47 flights a week to eight destinations in Asia starting in mid-April due to weak demand. UAL Corp. and Northwest Airlines Corp., which have both recently reduced international schedules, said it was hard to differentiate between the impact of the illness and the war.

The outbreak of the lethal disease quickly set off worldwide alarms. The World Health Organization has recommended screening of air passengers departing from affected areas. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises Americans to postpone nonessential travel to Hong Kong, China, Singapore and the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Chinese travel businesses that mushroomed in recent years as the Chinese economy took off and with an influx of new immigrants are now suffering. Visitors from China have been postponing plans to come to the United States because of the disease and the war, which has made it harder to get U.S. visas.

Oceania Tours in Chicago said air ticket bookings were down by a third from the same time last year. In San Francisco's Chinatown, Van Vic Vacations said 15 percent of its customers have canceled trips and new bookings have dwindled.

"Bad things don't come alone, now the disease has just added ice to the snow that we were experiencing," Van Vic manager Victor Chen said.

For small tourist agencies, the disease may be a death knell. L&L N.Y. Inc., a travel agency in Manhattan's Chinatown, said even the most popular $55 two-day, New York-to-Washington package has become a hard sell. To boost traffic, several agencies are offering "buy two and get one free" trips, but Mark Qian, general manager of L&L, says he does not think that will help.

"People just don't have travel on their minds, and we cannot offer free trips," Qian said. "The SARS will make it hard for small players to survive."

First created : 01 April 2003 1951 hrs (SST) 1151 hrs (GMT) Last modified : 01 April 2003 1951 hrs (SST) 1151 hrs (GMT) Channel News Asis

The World Health Organisation is now studying whether livestock in southern China may be the source of SARS, a deadly flu-like virus.

It has killed 63 people worldwide and infected almost 1,800.

The WHO regional office in Manila says the health body is awaiting authorisation from China to visit Guangdong province.

That was where the mystery disease first broke out in November.

It has since spread to other parts of the world, mainly Asia, through air travel.

But scientists have ruled-out a link between the disease, and the bird flu.

What experts have not ruled out is whether SARS is Airborne.

A top US health official says large outbreaks such as that in Hong Kong have raised this possibility.

This would make it far more contagious than previously thought.

Scientists are also puzzled, as to why two families of viruses have been found, in SARS patients.

Health officials previously believed SARS was transmitted through close contact with "droplets" from a sneezing or coughing patient.

The US-based Centres for Disease Control says health experts still do not have enough information on the mystery disease.

It also believes the best way now to prevent SARS is to take precautions similar to that during ordinary flu season.