SARS May not Originate from China: WHO Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, April 06, 2003

SARS May not Originate from China: WHO Official

The atypical pneumonia disease may not originate from China, said a World Health Organization (WHO) official currently on a study tour in Guangdong Province, south China, Saturday.

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The atypical pneumonia disease may not originate from China, said a World Health Organization (WHO) official Saturday.

James Maguire, one of the five-member WHO official team, said they suspect the atypical pneumonia virus, which blends chlamydia,coronavirus, and mixed viruses, actually originated from certain kind of animal instead of from China.

Maguire and his team went to the Medical School of Zhongshan University Saturday morning, where they had a discussion with Chinese experts of virology and lemology who had recently been engaged in treating SARS and visited the laboratory there.

According to him, another important thing the team members are working on and also puzzled at is that the atypical pneumonia virus seems to have different effect on different patients -- some are highly infective, some are not.

Dr. Robert F. Breiman, head of the Program on Infectious Disease and Vaccine Science of the Center of Health and Population Research, said the related information and analysis of the cases of the disease provided by the Chinese side were both true and comprehensive, and the treatment on infected patients has also been found effective.

He said part of his team's hypothesis has been further proved during their stay in the province, which is an important result of their visit.

Robert F. Breiman, one of the WHO team members and head of the Program on Infectious Disease and Vaccine Science of the Center of Health and Population Research, said the related information and analysis of the SARS cases provided by the Chinese side were true and comprehensive, and the treatment on SARS patients had also been found effective.

He said part of his team's hypothesis had been further proved during their stay in Guangdong in the past three days, adding that it was an important result of their visit.

The WHO experts visited the medical school of Zhongshan University this morning and exchanged views and information on the disease with their Chinese counterparts.

Guidelines for SARS Control Published

The government of south China's Guangdong province, the site of the first reported cases of serious acute respiratory syndromes (SARS), has published a series of official guidelines aimed at bringing the epidemic under strict control.

A leading official with the Guangdong Provincial Medical Bureau told Xinhua that the timely publication of the guidelines which outline ideal, effective therapies and preventive measures constitutes valuable experience in control and eradication of the disease.

On January 23, when the epidemic was first reported, the authorities circulated an in-depth investigative report among local hospitals requesting that they be on the watch for symptoms of the mysterious disease and to observe and treat the patients with intensive care.

On February 3, the provincial bureau issued a notice on the control and prevention of the mysterious disease and worked out the criteria for clinical diagnosis, control and laboratory work relating to the illness.

On March 9, the Provincial Medical Bureau issued "the Guidelines for the Treatment of Atypical Pneumonia Patients in Hospitals of Guangdong Province" which contain three sets of criteria for the diagnosis of the disease in adults, children and critically ill patients as well as 10 proposed therapies for the treatment of the disease.

On March 27, the bureau issued another two guidelines for the disease prevention and control, one for schools and kindergartens and the other for public places.

The official said the key to preventing the epidemic hinges on diagnosis and treatment of patients in the early stages of the disease.

In March, Guangdong province had brought the disease under control, as evidenced by a significant drop in the number of new cases. Between March 1 and March 31, 361 new cases were detected, down 47.5 percent from the previous month.

In March, 507 patients had recovered and were discharged from the hospital, 133 less than in the month of February. In March, the disease claimed nine lives, 18 less than in February.

Tourism in China is Safe

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) disease which has occurred in some provinces of China is under effective control and tourism is safe in the country, a senior tourism official said Friday.

Deputy Director Sun Gang of the National Tourism Administration (NTA) said the NTA and tourism management departments across China would cooperate with health authorities to enhance epidemic-prevention work in scenic areas, sightseeing spots, hotels and vehicles to eliminate any possibility of infection.

All tourism activities in China were continuing as normal, said Sun at a briefing attended by staff of representative offices of overseas tourism agencies and airline companies.

The governments of some foreign countries had tried to persuade their citizens not to visit China, Sun said, which caused the cancellation of a number of package tours to China.

Statistics from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, China's three major ports of entry, show that by April 3, about 136,000 tourists had called off their arranged visits to China.

However these abrogations would not severely affect China's tourism industry, which catered for several million tourists each month, Sun said, adding that a large number of overseas tourists came to China despite their governments' warnings.

China's Health Minister Zhang Wenkang told Chinese and foreign reporters Thursday that it was safe to work, tour and live in China.

The minister's remarks were the "most authoritative," Sun said, adding that Chinese tourism sectors would try their best to arrange the upcoming "Golden Week" for tourism, China's week-long holiday from May 1.

"A well-organized holiday, with millions of people traveling around the vast country, will show the world that tourism in China is secure and healthy," Sun said.

Statistics from the NTA indicate that China is the largest market for domestic tourism and in the January-February period this year, overseas tourists to China increased 9.25 percent year-on-year, with the number of foreign visitors jumping 25.09 percent.

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