<a href=www.upi.com>UPI From the Business & Economics Desk Published 4/7/2003 6:59 AM

SINGAPORE, April 7 (UPI) -- Asian stocks markets powered ahead Monday on news U.S. tanks had stormed into central Baghdad, with investors speculating the war in Iraq could quickly end.

Investors seem to forget for a day concerns about the on-going spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome and its economic impact on the region.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average rose 2.18 percent to 8,249.98, led by a few blue chips like Sharp Corp, up 4.16 percent.

Opening the earnings reporting season for the 2002-03 business year, Aeon Co rose 2.81 percent after it announced a return to profit due to strong clothing sales.

Shares in Yakult Honsha also jumped 10.27 percent on speculation that French food group Danone, which has raised its stake in the Japanese drink maker, may seek business ties or an even bigger share. There was also some rumor that a sweet milk-like drink produced by Yakult has a preventative effect against the severe acute respiratory syndrome.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index jumped 1.58 percent to 8,962.21 points led by property and telecom stocks. China Mobile rose 4.14 percent, rival China Unicom was up 3.43 percent, while bargain hunting on property counters lifted Cheung Kong, 2.49 percent and Henderson Land Development, up 2.93 percent.

In Taipei, the TAIEX share index rose 1.70 percent at 4,575.83, led by technology stocks such as Nanya Tech, up 7 percent and rival Winbond Electronics up 4.64 percent. TSMC gained 2.21 percent.

In Singapore, the key Straits Times index rose 1.91 percent to end at 1,338.83, a 10-week high. Blue chips like Singapore Airlines, up 2.16 percent, benefited from hopes of a swift end to war. Property counters also rose on bargain-hunting after recent sharp losses. City Developments gained 3.87 percent and Keppel Land surged 5 percent.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index added 1.5 percent to 640.35, a fresh one-month high, with casino-and-leisure group Genting leading the pack, up 4.8 percent. The stock had been under heavy selling pressure on concern about the impact of SARS and the war in Iraq will have on its business.

In Jakarta, the main index rose 4.47 percent to 423.814.

The Thai and Philippines markets were closed for national holiday.

Stuff 08 April 2003

BEIJING: Beijing sealed off and disinfected a building in a diplomatic compound yesterday because a Finnish labour official had visited it before he died from the deadly flu-like Sars virus.

People stood outside wearing masks while the Tayuan office complex, which houses foreign embassies and organisations, was disinfected, building administrators and witnesses said.

Pekka Aro, 53, a Geneva-based official of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), had been to the building before he died from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome at a Beijing hospital on Sunday.

Aro, visiting from Geneva, was the first foreigner to succumb to the disease in mainland China.

ILO's Beijing office nearby was disinfected last week, an ILO official said.

The mystery disease, which first surfaced in China's southern province of Guangdong in November, had killed 53 people and infected 1268 in the world's most populous nation by Sunday, state television said.

China Central Television quoted the Health Ministry, now issuing figures daily, as saying the number of deaths had risen by two in the 24 hours to Sunday and infections were up by 21.

Guangdong has recorded 43 deaths and 1203 infections.

China has come under fire for a lack of transparency over the disease, which has spread worldwide killing 95 and infecting almost 2600. SARS has a mortality rate of about 4 per cent.

The official Xinhua news agency played down the impact of the disease. It quoted Zhong Nanshan, head of a respiratory diseases institute in Guangdong's capital, as saying he believed the province would report fewer SARS cases in April than in March.

Xinhua quoted Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday as declaring the country safe to visit. The World Health Organisation and a number of countries have issued travel warnings for Guangdong and Hong Kong.

Chinese health officials say the disease has been brought under "effective control" and state-controlled newspapers published pictures of foreign tourists at scenic spots in an apparent effort to dispel worries.

Xinhua quoted organisers saying a two-week China Export Commodities Fair would begin as scheduled in Guangdong next week.

A group of Kenyan runners pulled out of the Beijing women's marathon, the Rolling Stones postponed their first ever concerts in China and several business events have been scrapped.

CNN Willy Wo-Lap Lam, CNN Senior China Analyst Monday, April 7, 2003 Posted: 5:11 AM EDT (0911 GMT)

Experts say there was a major setback in the struggle to contain a potentially deadly virus spreading worldwide.

WHO experts search for clues in the place the first SARS cases were reported.

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Beijing has pulled out all the stops to assure foreign businessmen and tourists that it is safe to visit China despite the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Communist party sources in Beijing said the new leadership under President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao had urged central and regional officials to issue words of reassurance to the international community.

Despite its upbeat stance, however, China's Ministry of Health announced Monday that the death toll from the virus had risen to 53, with 1,268 people infected.

It was also revealed that people had died of the mysterious illness in more of its provinces than previously reported, according to Reuters.

Party sources said the pneumonia crisis, along with the war in Iraq, could threaten a 7 percent growth rate the government pledged earlier this year.

A number of international conferences scheduled to be held in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities have been canceled or postponed, and tourism bookings have also been reduced.

The government is trying to persuade other nations, including the United States, to stop issuing advisories asking nationals to avoid visiting China because of the SARS epidemic, the sources said.

Most official papers on Monday covered a high-profile visit by Premier Wen to the China Disease Control Center.

Wen said the disease was "under effective control" in China, and that the great majority of provinces and cities had no SARS cases at all.

"The Chinese government and people enthusiastically welcome friends from around the world to come to China for tourism, visits and business activities," the premier said, adding that all measures would be taken to safeguards their health and safety.

CCTV on Monday carried an interview with a senior official in Guangdong, who emphasized that foreign businessmen going to the province had encountered no health problems.

The provincial capital, Guangzhou, is due to open its annual Guangzhou Trade Fair soon, and local cadres are worried about a drop in attendance.

The Guangdong press has reported that central government units will be in charge of anti-epidemic and other health-related work related to the fair.

The official media have also run relatively upbeat assessments by five World Health Organization experts who are currently visiting Guangdong, deemed the "source" of the epidemic.

The official Xinhua news agency quoted head of the expert team, Dr Robert Breiman as saying "the data we've got during the three days of staying here is much more than we expected."

Brieman was also quoted as indicating that the hospitals they had visited in Guangdong had "done a remarkable job and they follow the procedures and techniques that are used by Asian countries to control the virus."

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have been stressing that a number of SARS patients undergoing treatment in China had contracted the disease outside China.

In a press conference held on Sunday, Beijing officials said International Labor Organization expert Pekka Aro, who died in the capital, had contracted SARS before he entered China on March 23.

Aro was in Thailand for six days before his China trip.

RELATED • Frequently Asked Questions: SARS  • Gallery: Mystery virus spreads  • Country breakdown: Suspected cases of SARS  • Special report: SARS: Mystery illness on the move  • Centers for Disease Control  • World Health Organization 

QUICKVOTE Would the warning from the World Health Organization make you change your travel plans to Hong Kong or China? Yes No

ITV 17.02PM BST, 31 Mar 2003   Dozens of health workers in full surgical gear stood guard at the entrance of the apartment block to stop any residents from leaving

Almost 100 people in one Hong Kong apartment block have been infected by a deadly pneumonia virus.

Authorities quarantined more than 200 people in one block of the Amoy Gardens housing complex in an effort to contain the virus, which has killed nearly 60 people worldwide and spread alarm across Asia.

About 210 of the 620 people infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong live in Amoy Gardens and 150 of them are from Block E of the complex.

A further 92 people have now reported infected in the block, located in the midst of the teeming Kowloon district of the territory, one of the most densely-populated areas in the world.

"We are now examining all possible angles, to see if it is airborne or in the (building's) water mains," a government spokeswoman said.

Dozens of health workers in full surgical gear stood guard at the entrance of the apartment block to stop any residents from leaving as policemen in masks cordoned off the area.

But residents said many families had already fled.

Elsewhere, the city's largest bank, HSBC, ordered about 50 of its headquarters staff to stay home for seven days as a precautionary move after a teller fell ill, and activated a back-up dealing room to run until the end of the crisis.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore have closed all schools in a bid to contain the disease and quarantined those who have been exposed.

Besides these two cities, deaths have also been reported from Vietnam, Canada and from China, where the disease was believed to have originated in November.

A doctor from the World Health Organisation, who was infected in Vietnam after he had identified the virus, died in a Bangkok hospital at the weekend, the latest victim.

The disease has also triggered tighter screenings at many airports and a growing number of countries have advised citizens against unnecessary travel to the worst-affected areas.

From the Science & Technology Desk Published 4/1/2003 7:42 PM <a href=www.upi.com>UPI

ATLANTA, April 1 (UPI) -- Reports on the mystery illness dubbed severe acute respiratory syndrome continued to stream in from different corners of the world Tuesday.

In the United States, the number of suspected cases has reached 72, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, although so far there have been no deaths attributed to the disease.

"We knew it was coming," said Katy Hoskins, CDC spokeswoman, who also explained why no deaths have been reported in the United States: Because they had a heads up, U.S. health officials could take preventive action quickly, she said.

The estimated number does not include three airline passengers at a California hospital under evaluation. About 200 passengers on an airliner that landed in San Jose, Calif., were prohibited temporarily from getting off the plane when the pilot was told a few passengers and crew members were exhibiting symptoms similar to those associated with SARS.

The three people on board who were ill were taken to a local hospital, a California Health Department spokeswoman told United Press International.

California has one of the highest numbers of U.S. suspected cases -- 20, including three people who fell ill after household members returned from travel in southeast Asia, the spokeswoman said. The other 17 had been to Asia, where the vast majority of cases has been reported.

Additional suspected SARS cases in the United States were reported Tuesday in Vermont, Massachusetts, Washington, North Carolina and Colorado.

Globally, the World Health Organization reported cases have topped 1,800 among 17 countries. The number of people who have died has risen to 62, or 3.4 percent of suspected cases. These figures do not include new cases being reported by local media in Indonesia and the Philippines, where three and 31 cases, respectively, are suspected. In addition, CNN reported Tuesday two more deaths in Canada possibly associated with SARS.

According to other reports from around the world:

-- On Monday, more than 240 residents of an apartment complex in Hong Kong were evacuated to vacation camps in the countryside for isolation to try to minimize transmission. Hong Kong's health department is requiring the residents of Block E of Amoy Gardens to be quarantined for 10 days. WHO reported 107 of the residents lived in apartments, one atop the other, suggesting a possible pattern of transmission not seen in other affected areas.

-- The New Zealand Herald reported health authorities were "considering asking tour groups from countries affected by the deadly pneumonia virus SARS to postpone traveling here."

-- The Bangkok Post reported the following mandate issued by the Public Health Ministry: "All travelers returning from Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan must stay home for at least 14 days or face legal action."

-- The Straits Times in Singapore reported a possible source of the SARS virus: "'WHO is working on a theory that the virus has its source in farm animals in southern China,' a source from the Geneva-based body told (Agence France-Presse) in Manila."

The CDC is about 90 percent sure the virus responsible for severe acute respiratory syndrome is a new strain of coronavirus, Hoskins told UPI.

This possible isolation of the cause of SARS could lead to better methods of identification and treatment of the virus that has prompted travel advisories, a global health alert and jitters about a sometimes fatal disease.

The key to containing the disease will be physician vigilance and high-level compliance with health guidelines, said Dr. Jeffrey Drazen, editor in chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.

However, Dr. Susan McLellan, infectious disease and tropical medicine expert at Tulane University in New Orleans, told UPI a real problem might arise if the disease starts spreading in poor countries such as India and regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.

Unlike the United States, Canada and other wealthy countries, nonindustrialized nations have poor reporting systems, she said, and the virus will be difficult to contain.

(Reported by Christine Suh, UPI Science News, and Liz Carver in Washington)