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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, March 28, 2003

China Takes Effective Measures on Atypical Pneumonia

Health authorities have managed to contain the spread of atypical pneumonia in Beijing, said Kong Quan, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, on Thursday.


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Health authorities have managed to contain the spread of atypical pneumonia in Beijing, said Kong Quan, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, on Thursday.

Kong said eight people had been hospitalized with the disease in Beijing, of whom three had died and another five were still being treated.

Kong said all the patients came from China's northwest Shanxi Province and Hong Kong.

Kong said four people had been diagnosed as having atypical pneumonia in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi, since March 8. Two recovered and were discharged Monday and the other two were reported to be improving, Kong added.

The sanitary and public health departments of Taiyuan had adopted strict examination, reporting and quarantine methods and no cases of the disease had been found since March 11, Kong said.

Kong said experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are now in China to assist with the effective prevention and treatment of the disease.

Earlier this month, WHO officials and experts once come to China to exchange views with Chinese health departments on effective methods to combat the disease, Kong said.

The WHO appreciated the methods that China had taken to treat and prevent atypical pneumonia when the disease first occurred, Kong said, adding that China was committed to cooperating with the WHO.

Kong also stressed that the Chinese government was "highly concerned" about the reported cases of atypical pneumonia in Taiwan and was willing to communicate and exchange information with Taiwan.

In Hong kong, researchers said Thursday there has been a breakthrough in identifying the atypical pneumonia virus, and diagnostic tests will be available at all local hospitals Friday.

The announcement was first made by the University of Hong Kong's Chief of Virology, Malik Pereis.

Yuen Kwok-yung, senior scientist of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, explained that the new test will be able to reveal if a person has been infected with the virus within three to four hours.

Yuen said such virus can only survive for three hours in dry places, and he called on citizens to be highly careful of the highly contagious disease, which is commonly transmitted by fingertips.


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