WHO Experts: Travel Advisory Up to Change

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 09, 2003

WHO Experts: Travel Advisory Up to Change

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Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that they had got all the necessary data and information about the atypical pneumonia and believed they would achieve great progress in their research in the next few weeks or months.

The team ended their six-day investigation in south China's Guangdong Province Tuesday.

The disease was first reported in Guangdong Province and on April 2, the WHO released an advisory suggesting people avoid traveling through the province and Hong Kong.

"The WHO set the advisory based on the information they have, which will include our report. And the advisory is up to change," said James Maguire, one of the five-member WHO team.

The team arrived in Guangdong on April 3. During their investigation, the experts inspected several hospitals and labs, and had extensive discussions with Chinese medical staff and specialists.

"The measures that have been taken by the provincial government and medical institutions here to prevent and treat the disease have proved to be effective," said Dr. Robert F. Breiman, chief ofthe team.

"Their protection of the medical workers from being infected by patients impressed me a lot," Breiman also told Xinhua. "The data and information we've got is of great importance to us."

"The number of people infected here is going down," said Breiman.

According to the provincial health department, Guangdong reported 10 new cases of the epidemic on April 1 and only one case on April 7. The average number of cases reported from April 1 to 7was 7.57, down 70.2 percent from the same period last month. Currently 82.3 percent of patients in the province have recovered and left hospital.

The team is due to deliver a report to the WHO headquarters after exchanging ideas about the investigation with officials and scientists from the Ministry of Health in Beijing.

On Monday, the WHO experts informed the consuls-general of 11 nations stationed in Guangzhou, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, that they consider it not necessary to advise their people not to come to Guangdong for business or visits.

However, it is up to the consulates to decide whether or not to issue any advisory, said the experts.

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