WHO Removes Philippines from SARS-hit List

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, May 21, 2003

WHO Removes Philippines from SARS-hit List

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The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that it has officially removed the Philippines from a list of countries hit by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a local television reported.

The move came after the Philippines cleared the 20-day period (twice the SARS incubation period) during which no new cases of SARS were reported, the ABS-CBN news channel reported.

The Philippines has reported 12 SARS cases including two deaths,but said the disease has been contained by prompt and effective quarantine.

The WHO said in its SARS website that "the last probable case that was locally acquired (in the Philippines) was isolated on April 30, meaning that opportunities for spread of the virus to others were significantly reduced."

"As 20 days have now passed with no further cases detected, theWHO can safely conclude that local transmission has been interrupted."

It said five of the 12 SARS cases in the Philippines were "imported," with one of the five carrying the disease from Toronto and infecting seven others "in the only chain of secondary transmission that has occurred in the Philippines."

One of the victims Adela Catalon infected her father with the pneumonia in April and the Philippine government put an entire community under quarantine for at least 10 days.

"The SARS situation in the Philippines illustrates the scale ofthe emergency effort needed to respond effectively to an imported case and ensure that an outbreak is swiftly contained, keeping thenumber of secondary cases small," the WHO said.

"The efficient surveillance and reporting system in the Philippines, which reflects strong political commitment and a highlevel of awareness among health staff, confers an additional levelof assurance that no local transmission is now occurring," it added.

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