SARS resurfaces
Last Monday, the Chinese authorities acknowledged 2004's third case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)'s in Southern China, Hala Sakr reports
Earlier this month, the first case of SARS's re-occurrence was reported, marking the return of the disease which the World Health Organisation (WHO) had pronounced "contained" in July 2003. The second reported case is said to be in stable condition. However, global relaxation was disturbed by an earlier case which was confirmed in Singapore last September -- a warning that the deadly flu-like disease continued to be a potential threat.
Last year some investigations linked several of the earlier cases of SARS to contact with wild animals. Now civet cats, a local delicacy, are suspected. The first SARS case had not been in contact with wildlife before becoming sick, according to Wang Zhiqiong of the Guangdong Health Bureau, but the second case worked as a waitress in a restaurant that served a variety of wild animals on the menu. This prompted the government to order a mass slaughter of about 10,000 of the suspected animals in Guangdong. Merchants trying to hide civet cats are threatened with fines of up to $12,000 and a rat and cockroach examination campaign has now also been launched.
Although the WHO describes the cases as "isolated", news of the re-emergence of the disease has obviously caused a degree of panic. WHO warned that this is causing SARS "false alarms" in China, which could easily burden the health care system in southern China. Bob Dietz, WHO spokesman told the Associated Press that there is still no "reliable, timely" test for SARS and so people with colds or a fever can be easily misdiagnosed.
On their part, Guangdong health officials urged the public not to panic stating that the situation was far better than last year. "Last year, people, including doctors, did not know anything about SARS, which caused the disease to spread." deputy health director Feng Liuxiang was quoted as saying by the Information Daily. "This year, the prevention measures taken by medical workers are much better and we have added a lot of equipment. That's why there shouldn't be a repeat of what happened last year." said Liuxiang.
The existence of any "significant public heath risk" at this point was brushed away by Robert Breiman, the WHO's team leader in China who was cited by Reuters on-line Web site last week. Nevertheless, he added that the organisation was interested in determining "the steps [that] can be taken to maintain [a] low public health risk".
SARS initially erupted in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong in November 2002 and began to spread globally three months later in February resulting in more than 8,000 cases and 774 deaths, nearly 350 of them in China.
