SARS Thailand UPDATE

[george]

Thaivisa.com on-line coverage of the SARS in Thailand.

Click here for the latest SARS Thailand News (after 2003-04-17)

SARS news before 2003-04-04:

Facts on mystery illness (The Associated Press)

World health experts are trying to identify what has caused a new form of deadly pneumonia called severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. It spread first in southeast Asia and now has affected Canadians and perhaps one American who traveled to Asia.

Q: What are the symptoms?

A fever of about 101, coughing and shortness of breath. Other possible symptoms include headache, muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, confusion, rash and diarrhea.

Q: How quickly can someone get the disease after being exposed to it?

Three to seven days.

Q: How does someone catch it?

It appears to spread through close contact, such as between family members or between patient and doctor. Experts believe it is spread through coughing, sneezing and other contact with nasal fluids.

Q: What causes it?

Researchers don't know whether it is caused by a bacteria or a virus, and they might not know the answer for several more days.

Q: How is it treated?

Those suspected of having SARS are being quarantined. The best treatment is unclear because different medicines have been used in different hospitals.

Q: What are the chances of recovering from it?

So far, there are nine fatalities among the 150 most recent cases.

Q: Where did the disease first appear?

SARS was first recognized in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Feb. 26. An outbreak of pneumonia of similar symptoms struck Guangdong Province, China, last November and was only brought under control in mid-February.

Q: Is it dangerous to travel in those regions?

U.S. health officials said travelers should consider postponing trips to countries at risk. Those who have traveled to Hong Kong or Guangdong Province in China, or Hanoi, Vietnam, are being told to monitor their health for seven days. If a fever and shortness of breath develop, they are advised to see a doctor

[fester]

China offers information on fatal health threat

The outbreak may be tapering off in the place where it is believed to have begun.

---------------------------

By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN

The New York Times

---------------------------

Chinese health officials Sunday gave the World Health Organization the first sketchy details about a mysterious respiratory ailment that is believed to have first broken out in Guangdong Province last November and that Chinese officials say has tapered off in recent weeks.

Although the information hints that the outbreak might be tapering off for unknown reasons in Guangdong, WHO officials say they need more information to be certain.

"If it has burned out, it certainly will give us optimism over its control" elsewhere, Dr. David L. Heymann, a WHO official, said in an interview. "That is why we need more information to know what the natural history of the illness has been since November."

The WHO, an agency of the United Nations, on Saturday declared the ailment "a worldwide health threat." The agency calls the ailment severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and says it has caused at least nine deaths in Canada and five other countries in recent weeks. The spread of the ailment, a form of atypical pneumonia, has been aided by international travel. New cases, including those of many hospital workers, are being reported daily in affected countries, a WHO official said.

Laboratories in at least five countries have failed to detect any known infectious agent as a cause.

There have been no reports of the illness in the United States. But a 32-year-old doctor from Singapore and his 62-year-old mother-in-law were being treated for pneumonia in isolation in a German hospital after having attended a medical conference in New York. Officials believe the doctor might have contracted the illness in treating the first two cases in Singapore, where there are now 20 reported cases. The doctor had a fever and a slight cough, and the mother-in-law had a high fever, doctors at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University Hospital in Frankfurt said at a news conference Sunday. Health officials say they believe it takes direct and sustained contact to transmit the illness. But they have asked doctors to be alert to patients with flu-like symptoms who have recently traveled to Asia.

The ailment has affected hundreds of patients in Hong Kong and China, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, the WHO said. In Canada, where two patients have died, there are eight other suspected cases.

According to the information gathered by the Chinese government over recent months, SARS has behaved differently from past outbreaks of influenza, which can cause atypical pneumonia. Chinese scientists at first thought the cases might be avian influenza but could find evidence of no flu virus. The current outbreak, in Guangzhou City, the capital of Guangdong Province, involves clusters of cases, particularly hospital workers and among family members of patients.

Chinese officials reported earlier that there were 305 cases, including five deaths.

The cases have involved men and women in all age groups, but most have occurred among young adults.

The outbreak began in November and was at its peak Feb. 3-14. "The number of new cases decreased markedly after Feb. 15, and no new cases were detected in other cities," the Chinese reported.

[fester]

Thailand 'safe from deadly illness' (The Nation)

Published on Mar 18, 2003

Thailand is safe from the outbreak of a mysterious form of pneumonia that has hit neighbouring countries and left nine people dead and more than a hundred sick, the Public Health Ministry said yesterday.

"There hasn't been any reported or suspected case of this atypical pneumonia in the country," Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan told a press conference.

However, the ministry has set up a team of experts to monitor the disease and prevent its spread to the country.

Airport authorities have also been put on high alert to prevent the entry of the disease through air travellers from Vietnam, Hong Kong and parts of China where it has surfaced.

Don Muang Airport's disease-control unit has been instructed to stand by around the clock to make sure that all passengers arriving on the nine flights a day from these areas are checked thoroughly.

The symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has labelled it, can include fever, muscular pain, headache, sore throat, dry cough and shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing.

"Since the disease remains unidentified and is still being studied, it's impossible to diagnose directly and treat," said virologist Dr Prasert Thongcharoen, supervisor of the Disease Control Department.

"But don't panic . . . You won't die if you go to the doctor the minute you develop flu-like symptoms," he said.

A Suan Dusit poll of 2,000 Bangkok residents yesterday showed that nine in 10 people knew of the disease through media reports and 50 per cent feared they could catch it.

Meanwhile the United States' Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) together with the WHO are investigating the outbreak around the clock in the field and in the laboratory.

The WHO recently declared Canada, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand affected areas.

But with no reported cases, Thailand yesterday called on WHO to remove it from the list for fear its reputation would be affected.

[Brian]

Don Muang Airport's disease-control unit has been instructed to stand by around the clock to make sure that all passengers arriving on the nine flights a day from these areas are checked thoroughly.

How can they possibly do this. Unless they quarantine people at the airport, there is no way they can prevent the disease / virus coming in...

[george]

Are we safe in Thailand if we not travel?

Should tourists avoid Thailand?

The first case is discovered in the Kingdom now: (see below)  /George

---

Thailand tightens border screening after first SARS death

BANGKOK - Thailand increased its monitoring at airports and border checkpoints Sunday following the first death in the country attributed to a new flu-like illness that has killed at least 55 people and infected more than 1,550 worldwide.

Health officials at Bangkok's international airport are screening incoming passengers for the disease, called severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said.

About a dozen visitors have been quarantined so far, with most released within a few hours, but some kept for over a day, Sudarat said.

She emphasized that the stepped-up measures were prompted by the spread of the disease abroad, not locally.

"The disease is still under control in Thailand. We're still safe,'' she said.

On Saturday, a World Health Organization expert on communicable disease, Dr. Carlo Urbani, 46, died at a Bangkok hospital with SARS symptoms.

Urbani, who was based in Geneva, had been receiving treatment in Thailand after becoming infected while working in Vietnam. Urbani was the first to identify the outbreak in Hanoi, where four people have died.

Dr. Charal Trinvuthipong, director-general of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, said 33 medical personnel, including foreigners and Thais, who took care of Urbani have been screened for the disease and are still under close watch.

Meanwhile, the Thai government urged its citizens not to visit Canada, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam, the countries worst hit.

"We'd really appreciate if Thais avoid going to those countries as they're suffering from local transmission right now,'' Sudarat said. "It is too dangerous and the damages are too great.''-AP

[fester]

No cure for deadly epidemic

31mar03

US health officials have warned that none of the anti-viral drugs and other treatments tested were effective against a flu-like disease that has killed 56 people and made another 1500 sick around the world.

They also expanded their travel advisory, suggesting that anyone planning non-essential travel to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore or Hanoi, Vietnam, "may wish to postpone their trips until further notice".

"The global epidemic continues to expand," said Dr Julie Gerberding, head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. "We recognise this as an epidemic that is evolving."

The CDC has reported 62 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in the United States, and at least 35 cases have been reported in Canada, where three people have died.

But the majority of the cases have been in Asia, where the illness is believed to have originated.

Yesterday, the first doctor to realise the world was dealing with an unfamiliar disease died of the illness in Thailand.

Dr Carlo Urbani, 46, of Italy, a World Health Organisation expert on communicable diseases, became infected while working in Vietnam, where he diagnosed a US businessman in a Hanoi hospital, the UN agency said. The businessman later died.

US health officials believe the illness comes from a new form of coronavirus, the virus that causes about a fifth of all colds.

Dr Gerberding said no successful drugs or treatments had yet been found.

"We have no evidence that any specific anti-viral, steroid treatment or other agents that are targeting this virus have any benefit to patients," she said.

Two possible diagnostic tests that detect antibodies, indicating a person's immune system has reacted to the virus, are under development, and CDC officials hope to soon be able to supply those tests to state health departments, CDC officials said.

In Hong Kong, the number of people suffering from the disease increased sharply yesterday to 12 people killed and 470 sick.

Thousands of Hong Kong residents donned surgical masks but many others refused to venture out, and activity in the usually bustling city stopped.

In Canada, health officials said yesterday that as many as 100 people – mostly health care workers – may be sick from an outbreak of a deadly respiratory illness in Ontario, Canada's largest province.

Singapore, which has had two deaths, nearly doubled the number of people quarantined to more than 1500 yesterday.

The illness appears to have originated in China, which has been criticised for being slow in reporting cases.

---AFP

[bkkgs]

Yesterday I spoke to a chinese friend of mine living in Yunan Province. She is well educated. She said she was suprised to hear SARS is such big news everywhere else because it is not big news in China. Thats very encouraging. If it wasnt for the that thing going on in Iraq, this would be the international story.

[Rinrada]

I have been checking BBC but nil..

However the latest comments,sources are well???

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said

If the preventive measures we have taken do not give us confidence that the disease will not enter the country, we may have to beef up to an extent where tourists from certain countries may be temporarily barred from entering our country,''

Countries with reported cases

Canada

China (including Hong Kong)

Taiwan

France

Germany

Italy

Republic of Ireland

Singapore

Spain

Switzerland

Thailand

United Kingdom

United States

Vietnam

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said there was no intention to ban visitors from infected areas.

Experts warned that the increase in air travel from East to West meant that a new virus would take only a matter of days to circle the globe.

The 1918 pandemic killed as many as 40 million, so this infection is not quite as serious yet.

and finally..

What can I do to protect myself?

Not a great deal, should the illness become established..

Professor John Oxford, a virology expert from Queen Mary's College in London, told BBC News Online: "There's no much you can do to avoid this, unless you go and live as a hermit."

The UK Public Health Laboratory Service and Department of Health are not yet advising people not to travel to the Far East.

As a footnote..

Would this not be a good time for the Thai Government to ensure that Foreigners presently living in LOS can renew their Visas locally and  cancel or at least suspend the requirements for cross border visa runs.

This little Bug does not require any type of Formal Entry documentation and will NOT be refused admission.

Eveyone is in it together and some enlightened decisions from up top could prove very positive,beneficial and even make a little bit of sense.

[george]

Reuters just reported the second death of SARS in Thailand, in Hat Yai.

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=236

[fester]

Thailand to ban foreigners suspected of SARS

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand said Wednesday it will turn back foreigners suspected of suffering from a deadly new flu-like disease, and will force those allowed in from affected countries to wear masks in public.

The strict measures were announced by Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphun after a second person died in the country of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

Sudarat said foreigners arriving in Thailand from affected countries will undergo "careful medical checkups'' at airports and seaports.

"Anyone suspected of having the illness will not be allowed in Thailand, and will be sent back home,'' she said.

Foreigners _ including tourists and businesspeople _ allowed in from affected countries will have to wear masks during their stay in Thailand, even if they show no symptoms, she said.

Tour companies will be responsible for overseeing the mask regulation, and risk being closed down if they fail to comply, Sudarat said.

Individual foreigners found without masks will also face prosecution, she said, without elaborating.

Employers will have to provide masks and gloves to new foreign workers from countries affected by SARS, Sudarat said.

She did not provide a list of affected countries. At least 78 people have died of SARS worldwide and more than 1,800 have been sickened in more than a dozen countries. The majority of deaths have been in China, followed by Hong Kong, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.

A 78-year-old man, a Thai with a Hong Kong passport, died Tuesday in the southern city of Hat Yai. He had arrived in Thailand from Hong Kong on March 22 to visit relatives.

Nine of his relatives and friends have been put under quarantine in hospitals but have showed no symptoms of SARS, Sudarat told reporters.

Sudarat had said Tuesday that anyone arriving from affected countries would have to stay at home for 14 days. Violators face six months in jail and a 10,000 baht (US$230) fine, she said. But Wednesday's order requiring foreigners and tourists to wear masks suggested that the 14-day quarantine order applied only to Thais. Sudarat and health officials, however, did not immediately confirm that was the case.

"All people who have returned from affected countries, even if they don't have symptoms, are required by law to isolate themselves at home in order to control this disease,'' Sudarat said Wednesday.

"Don't get close to other people in the house and do not leave the house to go to work, to school or to participate in social activities,'' she said.

Health officials would not specify how the regulations would be enforced.

Dr. Charal Trinvuthipong, director-general of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, said a national effort will be needed to make sure that foreigners wear masks.

"The public, the police and public health officials will see that people are not violating this measure,'' he said, without elaborating.

Thailand has detected 11 suspected SARS cases, of whom two have died, including the Hong Kong man. The other was an Italian doctor working for the World Health Organization who contracted the disease in Vietnam and was hospitalized in Thailand.

Of the other suspected cases, four were declared healthy and sent home and the remaining five were placed in isolation wards. In addition, more than 100 people have been quarantined.

-AP

Source: AP, April 2, 2003

[Rinrada]

Is it me or is this back to front...

Public Health Minister Sudarat said foreigners arriving in Thailand from affected countries will undergo "careful medical checkups'' at airports and seaports,(Thais exempt??)

and I would assume ALL other entry points into the Kingdom.

"Anyone suspected of having the illness will not be allowed in Thailand, and will be sent back home,'' she said.

(My Words) This would ensure that if they indeed have the illness they could travel with hundreds of other non infected passengers and infect them.Also when they get back to their own country they could ensure successfull onward transmission of the "lurgy"

Normally when somone be it tourist,native,foreign traveller,passenger or whatever arrives in a country they should if they have a medical problem on arrival in said country be Treated and Contained in /and by that said country.

If a Thai International flight arrives at Heathrow with 500 Thai nationals,2 Chinese and the proverbial Jock,Limey and Taff ...even Iraqi with the symptoms they are treated under normal WHO international conditions....Not posted back to sender.

Foreigners including tourists and businesspeople allowed in from affected countries will have to wear masks during their stay in Thailand, even if they show no symptoms, she said.

Individual foreigners found without masks will also face prosecution (and ensures that everyone in the Jail gets it)

I know they are worried but C"mon..no I will not say it...

[fester]

HONG KONG TRAVEL WARNING

Britain has advised its citizens not to travel to Hong Kong and China's southern Guangdong province because of the spread of a mysterious killer disease.

The Department of Health said in a statement: "The UK public is strongly advised not to travel to these areas. This advice is being reviewed daily and this travel warning may be extended to other countries later."

The advice matched an earlier warning from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which said the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) epidemic had yet to peak.

WHO said it was taking the action because at least nine foreign businessmen have caught Sars in Hong Kong and carried it back to their home countries. The disease causes breathing difficulties, high fever, flu-like symptoms and pneumonia.

China now says 46 people have died from Sars. There are about 1,200 cases in the country and three provinces have been hit. More than 70 deaths and over 2,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide.

Quarantine

More than 200 people suffering from the virus have been quarantined in an apartment block in Hong Kong.

 

Worker disinfects Philippine Airlines aircraft from Hong Kong

 

Until now, WHO had said travellers could continue to go to the affected areas but should be aware of the symptoms of the disease and seek medical help quickly if they felt ill.

Health authorities feel confident they have identified the new virus, which is believed to have begun in Guangdong in November and has since been spread around the world by air travellers.

Panic

But they have still not found a cure to a disease that has caused panic in southeast Asia.

Airlines are reporting that passenger numbers are down on flights to affected areas, and the alert has had a big impact on Hong Kong business.

Malaysia has stopped hiring workers from infected areas while Thailand has told visitors from those countries they must wear masks or face six months in jail.

Cases have been confirmed in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Canada, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, France, Ireland and Italy.

The WHO says the outbreak appears to be under control in Vietnam and work to contain it in Singapore and Canada seems to be succeeding.

[fester]

KILLER VIRUS: 9-year-old has SARS symptoms

Published on Apr 3, 2003 (The Nation, Thailand)

A medical team in Songkhla has quarantined a nine-year-old girl who fell ill after coming into contact with a Thai-born Hong Kong citizen who died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on Tuesday.

Around 20 other people who came into contact with the SARS victim have also been quarantined - some at a Songkhla hospital and the others at home in Ratchaburi for two weeks.

Hiangchiang Lim, 72, was visiting relatives in Songkhla and Ratchaburi during the Chinese Qing Ming festival when he was admitted to Songkhla Nakharin Hospital last week.

Hiangchiang came to Thailand every year to pay respect to his ancestors even though he had moved and changed his citizenship after marrying his Hong Kong wife.

After his death, his seven |relatives, including the girl, were taken from their Sadao home and placed under compulsory quarantine at Songkhla Nakharin Hospital, Public Health Permanent Secretary Wallop Thainua said.

The girl was later isolated from the others after she showed early flu symptoms, Wallop said.

Meanwhile, hospital director Sutham Pincharoen said an autopsy would be performed on Hiangchiang, and his next of kin could claim the body within three days.

Sutham said his hospital was bracing to screen visitors from Malaysia and Singapore who are expected to arrive during the Songkran festival in Hat Yai.

In Ratchaburi, provincial health authorities have ordered relatives of Hiangchiang to quarantine themselves in their homes for two weeks, as they showed no signs of contracting the killer disease.

Hiangkiang Lim, the elder brother of the SARS victim, and his wife last met his brother for dinner on March 24. The two have been ordered to stay home for five more days.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said health authorities are tracking down 20 other people who came into contact with the dead man in order to quarantine them.

[Rinrada]

More than 70 deaths and over 2,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide....serious

but...(stats again and damm lies)

1998 United States data,(only) however...

All nation's overall death category percentages may be fairly similar.

Causes of Death-  

1998 Deaths  

AIDS ...............    13,426  

Auto Accidents      42,191  

Bike Accidents           142  

Breast Cancer        42,068  

Diabetes               64,751  

Drug Reactions           276

Gun Accidents            866  

Hepatitis                 4,796  

Lightening                   10  

Liver Disease          25,192  

Suicide                  30,575  

Syphilis                       45  

Ulcers                     4,695  

Snake Bites                    8

TOBACCO DEATHS..418,690  

 

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_DeathStatisticsTable.html

Death by Tobacco

Suicide?  Murder?  Accident?  Stupidity?

© WhyQuit.Com 2000  

:ghostface:

[george]

WHO and KL advise against going to places affected by SARS

HONG KONG: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has advised travellers not to go to Guangdong province in southern China and here because of the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The alert is a step up in terms of health warning compared to the two earlier ones issued by the organisation on March 12 and March 27.

It is believed to be the first travel advisory WHO has issued without recommending vaccination or drugs.  

Kuala Lumpur extended the advisory by strongly advising Malaysians to immediately stop travelling to several other countries hit by SARS – Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Canada – until further notice.

The latest WHO warning comes in the light of a new outbreak of the disease at Amoy Garden, an apartment complex here, and a report that there were still new cases of infection in Guangdong.

“As a measure of precaution, WHO is now recommending that persons travelling to Hong Kong and Guangdong Province of China consider postponing non-essential travel.

“This temporary recommendation will be reassessed in the light of the evolution of the epidemic in the areas currently indicated, and other areas of the world could become subject to similar recommendations if the situation demands,” the global health body said yesterday in a statement from its headquarters in Geneva.

At a press briefing in Geneva earlier, WHO infectious diseases chief Dr David Heymann said there were two reasons – the means of transmission and international infection – for issuing the travel advisory against Hong Kong.

“We do not completely understand the means of transmission in Hong Kong, and because since March 15, nine people returned from Hong Kong to their countries with infection, we have decided to make this recommendation,” Dr Heymann said.

“In Hong Kong, it appears that there is something in the environment that is transferring the virus, which is serving as a vehicle to transfer the virus from one person to another,” Dr Heymann added.

For the advisory on travel to Guangdong, Dr Heymann said the province had only just reported that there were 361 SARS cases and nine deaths last month.

In Putrajaya, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said the Foreign Ministry would issue an advisory, adding that the people’s co-operation was important to stop the disease from spreading.

“There are between 500 and 600 cancellations a day now of flight bookings to countries affected by SARS while KL International Airport saw a 3% drop in passengers.

“The Cabinet is very concerned over SARS. We must protect Malaysians from the disease because there is no cure or vaccine so far,” he told reporters after the Cabinet meeting here.

He said that those who have to travel to the affected countries would have to bear the risk themselves.

On the thousands who commute between Johor and Singapore daily because of work, he said: “We (the Transport Ministry) are not the main agency but will give 100% co-operation because Malaysians must be protected.”

Dr Ling said his ministry would co-operate with all relevant ministries, particularly the Health Ministry, to take preventive measures at ports, airports and railways.

He commended Malaysia Airlines staff for their quick action in spotting two passengers with symptoms during an inbound flight from Hanoi about a week ago.

He said the staff saw two passengers coughing and having a fever and immediately separated them from other passengers.

When the flight landed, eight passengers had displayed the symptoms and were immediately taken to Putrajaya Hospital for observation.  

Doctors later confirmed they were not SARS cases.

Dr Ling said such steps inconvenienced travellers but the Government had to do everything possible to ensure Malaysians were protected.  

Later in the night, Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng and Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Mohamed Taha Arif appeared in a forum on SARS, broadcast live over RTM1.

They explained steps being taken to curb entry of the disease into Malaysia and answered questions fielded by journalists.

When asked how the expected influx of Singaporeans for Qing Ming this weekend through the Causeway in Johor Baru was going to be handled, Chua said he believed that measures taken by Singapore Health Ministry had helped reduce the risk of the disease spreading to the country.

BKK April 3, at 07.00

[george]

Thailand turns back French warship from Singapore over SARS fears

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thailand has turned back a French warship en route from Singapore to prevent the spread of a mystery flu-like illness, officials said Thursday.

The ship, with a crew of about 500, was scheduled to make a rest stop in the resort town of Pattaya on Saturday, but Thai officials warned the French navy of strict public health measures against severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

"We have informed them (the French navy) that the Thai Public Health Ministry has issued a decree to quarantine visitors who come from the SARS-risk countries, and they understand,'' said Thai navy spokesman Rear Admiral Surasak Runrerngrom.

"They agreed to skip the stopover here.''

Singapore is among the places that have reported deaths from SARS.

At least 78 people have died of the disease worldwide and more than 1,800 have been sickened.

Most of the deaths have been in China and Hong Kong.

Thailand has detected 11 suspected SARS cases, and two of the patients have died.

More than 100 people have been quarantined.

Thailand's Public Health Ministry said Wednesday that the country will turn back foreigners suspected of having SARS, and will force those allowed in from affected countries to wear surgical masks in public.

On Tuesday, Thailand ordered a 14-day stay-at-home quarantine for Thais returning from SARS-affected areas, warning that those who fail to observe the quarantine could be forced to stay in isolated former leprosy camps.

Violators also face six months in jail and a 10,000 baht (US$230) fine.

Also Thursday, more than 800 employees at Thailand's National Science and Technology Center, or NECTEC, were told to stay home after two of four staff members who attended a recent meeting in Shanghai, China, developed fever.

The employees had returned to Thailand on March 23, but were quarantined only after authorities issued the order earlier this week.

"We are doing this to comply with the public health measures,'' NECTEC director general Thaweesak K. Anantakul said.

"The staff will resume work right after we disinfect the areas.''

Source:  AP, April 3, 2003

[george]

Mask up, visitors told

WHO warns: Don't visit HK, Guangdong

Post reporters

The Public Health Ministry has asked police to take action againstpeople breaching conditions imposed on travellers from five countries with a high incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

Sudarat Keyuraphan, the public health minister, threatened to detain suspected carriers in ``leper colonies'' if they refused to cooperate.

The move followed the first known death from the disease of a person born in Thailand. Hiang Siang sae Lim, 78, who has Hong Kong citizenship, died at the Prince of Songkhla hospital on Tuesday night after returning from a visit to Hong Kong last week.

The World Health Organisation yesterday issued an unprecedented warning against travel to Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province in southern China because of the Sars outbreak.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, said the impact of the disease on the Thai economy was more severe than that of the US-led war on Iraq.

The Public Health Ministry has added clauses to an announcement taking effect on Tuesday which imposes restrictions on travellers from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The clauses say all Thai citizens and foreign expatriates returning from the five countries should stay at home for 14 days. Foreign visitors from these areas, including businessmen and tourists, should wear masks during their first two weeks in Thailand.

``All people travelling from the five countries have the

responsibility to obey the law,'' Mrs Sudarat said.

Violators are liable to a fine of up to 10,000 baht and a prison term of up to six months.

Inbound tourist agencies must provide masks for their clients.

Visitors who ignore the rules would be placed under quarantine at one of the six former leprosy hospice centres, or would be sent back to their home countries.

Public and private organisations, including schools and hotels, were responsible for making sure travellers having recently visited Sars-affected countries respect the law, the minister said.

People with queries can contact the ministry at 0-2590-3194,

0-2590-3192 and 0-2590-3167 or read its website at http://www.moph.go.th.

The announcement, issued under the Dangerous Diseases Control Act, will be revoked only after proof that the situation in the five countries is under control.

Deputy Transport Minister Pichet Sathirachawal said Thai Airways International aircraft which travelled on the Bangkok-Hong Kong route from yesterday would not be allowed to stay overnight in Hong Kong.

Screening measures at Don Muang airport were being tightened, with a team of 40 doctors and nurses carrying out health checks of all foreigners suspected of carrying the infection.

Thai people suspected of being infected would be quarantined, while those with symptoms of the illness would be placed under medical supervision, said deputy public health permanent secretary Thawat Suntharachan.

All suspected cases would be sent to hospital for a screening test, while cases of probable infection would have to undergo confirmation tests, for which the serum would be sent to the US Communicable Diseases Control Centre in Atlanta.

Mrs Sudarat also urged shops and restaurants popular with tourists from the Sars-affected countries to supply staff with masks and gloves.

Bangkok Post April 3, 2003

[prem]

Click here for the latest SARS Thailand News (after 2003-04-17)

------------

Public rush to buy masks as govt sets up SARS command centre

Bangkok, Apr 03, (TNA): Pharmacists reported panic buying of nose and mouth masks yesterday; while the Ministry of Public Health set up an emergency command centre to deal with the killer pneumonia that has caused fear across Asia and hotels and hospitals in Bangkok were sprayed with anti-bacterial agents in the hope of keeping the disease out of Thailand.

The urgency with which the government is treating the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis was apparent yesterday in an emergency meeting convened by the Ministry of Public Health, attended by Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan and the heads of all departments.

Speaking after the meeting, Mrs Sudarat announced that Mr Lamb, aged 78, of Hong Kong extraction, had died from a suspected case of SARS in Songkhla on April 1. Although the cause of Mr Lamb’s death has not been confirmed, the fact that it was almost certainly SARS has sent Thailand into a state of panic.

Mr Lamb returned from Hong Kong on March 24 in good health, and stayed in a hotel in the Bangkok district of Hualamphong for two days before returning by car to visit seven relatives in Sadao district in the southern province province of Songkhla. Soon after he began to feel ill, and went for medical treatment on March 30. Two days later, he was dead.

Nine relatives have been in close contact with Mr Lamb – two in Ratchaburi province and seven in Songkhla. They are now being closely monitored in government hospitals.

Underlining the seriousness of the situation, Mrs Sudarat said that the Ministry of Public Health was adding to ministerial announcement no. 4 by requiring all Thais returning from countries with a high risk of SARS – China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and Singapore - to quarantine themselves in their homes for 14 days. Violation carries a prison sentence of six months and a fine not exceeding Bt10,000.

Mrs Sudarat said that tourists travelling from risk countries, whether in groups or individually, would also have to face detailed health checks. Anyone suspected of having contracted the disease would immediately be sent back to the country of departure, while all tourists from risk countries would have to wear masks across their noses and mouths while in Thailand. Tour companies that failed to ensure that the tourists on their programmes complied with these rules would be immediately shut down.

“Despite the stringency of Ministry of Public Health regulations, Thailand remains at risk. I therefore urge all parties to help take social responsibility. Anyone who knows that they have been to risk countries should know what they have to do”, she said.

She said that in order to ensure that orders in each location could be given quickly and efficiently, the Department of Disease Controls’ academic support centre had been transformed into a command centre to deal with SARS. The centre will be under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Public Health, and will be headed by deputy permanent secretary Dr Thawat Sunthoarachan and prime minister’s assistant Mr Yongyut Wichaisit.

The public health minister added that the ministry was also in the process of preparing a handbook which would be distributed to the public containing information on how to protect oneself against SARS.

Yesterday Mrs Sudarat, together with officials from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and municipal officers sprayed the Station Hotel in Hualamphong, where Mr Lamb stayed upon arrival from Hong Kong, with anti-bacterial spray. She warned that hotel staff could possibly have been in sufficiently close contact with Mr Lamb to be at risk from the disease.

Meanwhile, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization prepared 50,000 nose and mouth masks to send to the staff of state-run hospitals across the country, and a further 10,000 for the general public, which will be sold at no more than Bt10 each. The masks are already on sale in six GPO outlets.

Throughout the day a steady stream of people purchased anti-dust masks and hygiene masks from the Chulaphesak Pharmacy near Chulalongkorn Hospital, and Mr Ronarit Wuthisarworaphorn, one of the pharmacy staff, said that since Monday there had been so many anti-dust masks that they had run out, with customers forced to buy more expensive hygiene masks instead. He said that the majority of customers were buying the masks to send to relatives in Hong Kong, Canada and other high-risk countries, and that last Monday one customer had purchased 10,000 anti-dust masks for friends and relatives in Hong Kong.

But other customers were buying the masks for their own personal use, or for friends and relatives at home. One customer, Miss Nonthalee Rattanasit, told reporters that she was buying a mask for her sister, who worked as an immigration police office at Don Muang airport.

The gravity of the situation was brought home to Parliament yesterday, with MPs talking about little else. Mr Ruaylap Iemthong, Thai Rak Thai MP for Bangkok, headed calls for Parliament to play a greater role in the campaign for SARS prevention. Dr Wichai Chaijitwanichakul went further, calling on a ban on MPs from travelling abroad over the next three to four months. The Parliamentary Speaker agreed to his suggestion.

In Bangkok, an emergency meeting was held at the City Hall, led by Dr Jaran Tarunawuthiphong, director of the Department of Disease Control and a team of medical staff from public and private sector hospitals across the capital. Dr Jaran advised hospitals to put staff and wards on standby to accept SARS patients, and told hospitals to have medical teams at the ready in their entrance lobbies to separate flu patients from those with other illnesses before they even entered the hospital.

Already several hospitals and hotels in the capital are refusing to accept people with flu-like symptoms, for fear that they might be infected with SARS.

[Rinrada]

Worldwide bug pandemic warning

Efforts to stop a deadly pneumonia may not prevent a global explosion in cases, a world-leading infectious disease expert has warned.

Dr Julie Gerberding, a director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said on Thursday that a massive scientific drive to beat the illness may be too late to prevent a major outbreak across every continent of the world.  

On Wednesday, the WHO told travellers to postpone non-essential trips to this part of China, or Hong Kong, where there have been hundreds of probable cases and dozens of deaths.

The stakes are high, and the outcome cannot be predicted

Dr Julie Gerberding, CDC  

There have been 72 probable cases of Sars in the US so far, but Dr Gerberding fears that the worst could yet be to come.

In the New England Journal of Medicine, she wrote: "A very sobering question remains - are we fast enough?

"Can we prevent a global pandemic of Sars?"

"If the virus moves faster than our scientific, communications and control capacities, we could be in for a long, difficult race.

"The stakes are high, and the outcome cannot be predicted."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Some good news

UK house prices keep on booming

House prices in the UK have risen by 26.2% over the past 12 months, according to the Nationwide building society, contradicting other reports that the market was stagnating.

:cool:

[fester]

April 4, 2003:

Don Muang Airport chaos as health checks greet travellers

Arrival terminal like an out-patients room

Read more:

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=241

[george]

Click here for previous Thailand SARS news postings (before 2003-04-05)

LATEST NEWS:

Phuket bar tours from SARS countries – health chief

PHUKET: Phuket’s senior medical officer has urged tour companies not to handle tour groups wanting to come to the island from the five countries suffering major outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

If tour companies go along with the urging of Dr Wanchai

Sattayawuthipong, Chief of the Phuket Provincial Health Office (PPHO), tour groups from the five countries – Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Vietnam and Taiwan – will effectively be barred from Phuket.

So far there have been no recorded cases of the deadly pneumonia here, Dr Wanchai said today, adding that he believes that stopping the tour groups from the five countries is a necessary precaution.

He also urged anyone who has returned within the past few days from any of the five countries to stay at home for two weeks in voluntary quarantine.

Dr Wanchai was speaking at a seminar on SARS today at the PPHO.

More than 2,000 people in 18 countries, including Thailand, are now suffering from the SARS virus and the death toll has risen quickly to more than 70.

The virus, for which there is no established treatment, was first noted in southern China and has caused authorities in Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere to take drastic action to isolate potential carriers in a bid to control the outbreak.

Checks on the medical condition of incoming air travelers to Phuket have become more stringent and officials are planning to demonstrate the new procedure to the media when a flight arrives from Singapore tomorrow.

The Nation reported today that the Thai Government has ordered visitors from high-risk countries to wear face-masks constantly while in Thailand.

It added that any Thais returning from high-risk countries, and caught flouting the two-week voluntary home quarantine order issued a couple of days ago, may be detained in leprosy camps.

Thursday, April 3, 2003 (The Nation)

[george]

Mystery Virus Transforms Asia's Airports

Source: AP, April 04. 2003

Nurses in white uniforms rush by luggage-toting air passengers wearing surgical masks, making Singapore's gleaming airport look like a hospital ward.

Singapore and other fast growing Asian cities built modern new airports to herald in a new millennium of prosperity. But in recent weeks they've become gateways for an attack by a mystery illness that's infected more than 2,200 people and killed 81 worldwide.

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is tempering high hopes for a renaissance in Asian air travel. Face masks, empty halls and disinfectant have become common sights at the once bustling airports in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Manila and other Asian cities that have invested heavily in airport upgrades.

Masked nurses in Singapore greet passengers arriving from areas hit by SARS, asking them how they feel as soon as they step off the plane.

They screen about 35 flights a day, arriving from China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. In their first 12 hours of duty starting Monday night, they sent seven suspected SARS cases to the hospital, according to airport authorities.

Face masks have become standard issue on some airlines, which now distribute them along with blankets and headphones.

"It's a bit strange traveling on the plane with everybody, including the stewardesses, wearing masks," said Mark Cain, a Singapore-based businessman after getting off a flight from Hong Kong.

After a record year in 2002, the number of passengers traveling through Singapore's airport has fallen sharply.

Flag carrier Singapore Airlines has slashed its services to Asia, Europe and North America by almost 14 percent, cutting 125 flights a week. The number of visitor arrivals in the first three weeks of March was 9 percent lower than the same period last year. The airline has cut more flights now than after the Sept. 11 attacks, said airline spokesman Geoff Breusch.

Mike Pillai said in his three years as an airport shuttle driver, he had never seen the number of passengers drop off this much, or so suddenly.

"Normally you can count a hundred, now it's about 10 or 20 on some flights," Pillai said as he surveyed the trickle of passengers in the arrival hall.

About a quarter of the people at Singapore's Changi Airport were wearing masks on Wednesday, including the woman at the information counter. Cleaners were busy wiping down counters and railings with disinfectant, a procedure now repeated four times a day.

Health warnings about the symptoms of the disease blared constantly from the public address system at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok. Six flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei were labeled canceled on the departure screen at midweek.

Most airlines in Hong Kong have reported a significant drop in passengers, but a few like Air New Zealand are experiencing a sudden rush as expatriates leave the island.

"I think that we've probably picked the second worst place in the world to visit beside Baghdad right now. I just really want to go home," said Serena Mason, a 17-year-old student from Vancouver, Canada, from behind a surgical mask.

Mason and her family were forced to change travel plans after their flight was canceled because of a lack of passengers.

Thailand, previously one of Asia's most tourist friendly countries, has ordered airport officials to turn back foreigners suspected of being infected with SARS. Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphun vowed to make all visitors from countries affected by SARS to wear masks or face prosecution.

Although Malaysia has managed to avoid the SARS outbreak, daily traffic through Kuala Lumpur International, Asia's newest airport, has fallen at least three percent and Malaysia Airways was also cutting back the number of flights to outbreak areas, Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik.

Airport workers at Manila's international airport waited for masked passengers arriving from Hong Kong to disembark before fumigating their plane.

[george]

Channel News Asia, April 4, 2003

Thai officials frantically tries to calm the public - Bangkok Airport SARS screening unprofessional

Foreigners checked, Thai's slips through with a "wai"

http://www.thaivisa.com/index.php?514&backPID=10&tt_news=243

[Herbie]

Bangkok Hotel closed, after wrong one sprayed

Health officials disinfected the wrong hotel on Wednesday, but finally closed down the right one yesterday.

The Broadway hotel near Hua Lamphong railway station was closed by the Public Health Ministry after checks confirmed that 78 year-old Hiang Siang sae Lim, who died of severe acute respiratory syndrome, spent two nights there.

The hotel was stuffy and did not have appropriate ventilation, public health permanent secretary Vallop Thainuea said in giving the closure order.

He issued the order under the Diseases Control Act.

The hotel cannot reopen until ``appropriate'' changes are made to improve its internal environment.

Red-faced health officials visited the hotel yesterday morning, after finding that on Wednesday they had cleaned the wrong place.

Health workers wearing protective gear sprayed antiseptic at the Station hotel, near the central railway station, after hearing mistakenly that Lim had stayed there during his visit to Bangkok. He did not stay there, but at the Broadway.

The Thai-born Hong Kong citizen, was admitted to the Prince of Songkhla hospital in Hat Yai district, Songkhla, on Monday and died the next evening.

[Herbie]

Friday April 4, 12:17 PM

Many travellers are unaware of Thailand's new regulation of wearing masks

The Thai government has ordered all foreigners from SARS-hit countries, including Singapore to wear face masks at all times while they are in Thailand, or face a fine or even up to six months' jail.

But the message has not sunk home.

Many passengers heading to Bangkok did not know about this.

Half the passengers heading to Bangkok on flight SQ 64 had not heard about Thailand's new rule.

They only found out from airline staff.

They have to wear masks in Thailand, when they checked in.

Those who knew had packed 2 or 3 face masks, depending on how long they plan to stay in Thailand.

Airport ground staff advised those without masks to buy them from the airport pharmacy or in Bangkok.

But travellers are divided about the move - some welcomed it, but others felt Thailand was over-reacting.

"It's good for everybody, not just us. It's just to prevent spreading to other body," said ome traveller.

Added a second traveller: '"This is just a safety precaution but last night I heard that the mask is not enough for curbing the disease."

"It's a good idea especially if the Thailand government forced us to do that. They should provide the mask," said another traveller.

"It's very stupid. Thailand government and Thailand's airport counter-measure is too severe to Singaporeans," said a fourth traveller.

But most travellers leaving Singapore were not taking any chances as many are already wearing masks.

[george]

UPDATE SATURDAY APRIL 02.00 BKK time

Don Muang’s morning of chaos

Passengers packed together in corridor for an hour to be treated

Chaos reigned at the Don Muang international airport yesterday morning amid what was decried as poorly-organised medical screening of passengers for SARS.

The situation returned to normal in the afternoon and, contrary to the complaints of the morning, some passengers expressed concern over what they saw as lax screening.

Probably due to the greater number of flights arriving in the morning, passengers found themselves held up for more than an hour after disembarking due to a bottleneck at the screening station.

“I was among the passengers from at least three newly arrived jumbos. It was jam-packed. No movement at all,” said a Canadian expatriate who did not want to be named. “People from Europe mingled with those from Singapore and Hong Kong. Maybe 5 per cent wore masks. Most of the others had no idea. We were standing there jostling and sweating.”

He said the ordeal had lasted long enough for a healthy person to get infected in the crowded corridor.

“Is it a good idea to pack a thousand passengers in a narrow, unventilated corridor to bump against each other for an hour? Passengers from Germany, from South Africa, [standing] together with others from Singapore and Hong Kong?”

The cause of the hold-up, he said, was “a valiant team of Thai nurses treating passengers one by one to a forehead fever check”.

Some 50 nurses and doctors were assigned to the airport yesterday. They are to be additionally equipped with mobile X-ray machines and blood-testing labs.

Another passenger complained about the confusion and lack of public relations. After emerging from the medical check and showing the health form signed by a nurse to the immigration counter, he was forced to go back and get his entry form stamped. That took him another 20 minutes.

But in the afternoon, passenger arrivals were processed in near-normal time. The average passenger, including those from affected areas, took only 30-45 minutes to exit the terminal.

Said Raymond Kan, 35, a doctor: “They did not check myself or anyone I saw on my flight from Malaysia at all: in fact the speed was about normal as we passed through, with baggage claim and everything taking only about 40 minutes.”

“They just checked my heart rate and waved me through,” said Garita, 30, arriving from Singapore for a holiday.

Source: The Nation

[george]

Thai authorities short of personnel for airport screening of SARS

2003-04-05

BANGKOK, Thailand, AP

Thailand needs more medics to check incoming travelers for symptoms of the deadly flu-like illness spreading around Asia and might call on its military to help out, the health minister said Saturday.

Thailand has reported 11 suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, including two fatalities. It has imposed strict measures on travelers in a bid to contain the disease. Thais returning from affected areas are required to observe a 14-day stay-at-home quarantine.

Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said at a press briefing at Bangkok International Airport that more medical personnel are needed to check incoming visitors there, in addition to the 40 nurses and 12 doctors now on duty.

"The staff are overloaded with work. We need to ask for more people to help," she said, pointing out that arrivals are expected to increase next week when the Thai New Year holiday is celebrated.

She said the ministry is planning to get more doctors and nurses from nearby provinces and might call on the military to send medical personnel to help.

All persons arriving from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Canada must be examined on arrival, and tourists from those places are supposed to wear masks in public places, although that rule doesn't seem to be enforced.

Even though the number of incoming travelers has been reduced, Thailand is experiencing a small influx of visitors from nearby countries who believe it is safer here than where they are coming from, said Sudarat.

SARS has killed more than 80 people and sickened about 2,200 worldwide. Most of the deaths have been in China and Hong Kong. The two SARS fatalities in Thailand had both contracted the illness abroad.

[george]

SARS hits Malaysia; Hong Kong reports more deaths

2003-04-06 / Associated Press /  

SINGAPORE

Hong Kong and Malaysia reported new deaths from a mystery illness yesterday, bringing the global death toll to at least 89, while China vowed to share more information on the disease that apparently started in one of its southern provinces.

Hong Kong reported three new deaths yesterday and said the number of its people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, had risen to 800 - accounting for more than a third of the world's more than 2,300 cases. The disease has killed 20 in the territory.

U.S. President George W. Bush followed the lead of governments in Asia and Canada by giving American health authorities the power to quarantine anyone infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

U.S. health authorities are investigating about 100 suspected cases of the disease at home. More than 2,300 people worldwide have been infected.

The U.S. Pacific Command ordered all military personnel not to travel to China and Hong Kong - including Navy ships that regularly dock in Hong Kong - unless it was essential to their missions.

In China, where the government has been criticized for failing to notify the international community when SARS first hit in November, Vice Premier Wu Yi promised to start releasing more information to the public, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Malaysia became the 20th place to join the list of SARS-affected areas after confirming that the illness killed a 64-year-old man who died on March 30 in Kuala Lumpur. He developed SARS symptoms during a recent visit to China, said Malaysia's Health Ministry Director-General Mohamad Taha Arif.

Thailand's Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said he was considering calling military medics to help screen incoming passengers for the disease. The World Health Organization, or WHO, has reported seven SARS cases and two deaths in Thailand.

Singapore said the number of new infections in the city-state was dropping and people should resume their normal routines. The government said it would begin reopening the country's schools in the coming week after shutting them last month due to the disease, which has killed six people and infected 101.

However, parents will have to sign declarations saying their children are healthy, and students who have traveled outside Singapore will have their temperatures taken by school staff for 10 days after their return.

[george]

THE STORY OF SARS;

Our worst nightmare come true

eMedia.com, Malaysia, 2003-04-06

IT'S as if Pandora's Box has been opened, a pandemic scourge to humanity is leaving a global trail of death. Like a horror movie, the ninth floor of a hotel in Hong Kong became the launching pad of this nightmare upon an unsuspecting world.

The virulent virus, known as SARS, checked out of the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong via infected guests, and soon boarded planes and crossed oceans. That's the hotel where 52 Malaysian tourists had stayed. The Health Ministry said last month that none of them were infected although it couldn't locate 17 of them for screening but the other 35 were okay. That, sadly, is an assumption. So much for the "leave no stone unturned" treatment.

According to investigators, the nightmare began when Liu Jianlun, a medical professor from China, checked into the hotel. When Dr Liu fell ill and was rushed to a Hong Kong hospital on February 22 (where he died), he shouted: "Don't touch me. I am carrying a very virulent virus.'' A hospital in Guangzhou later revealed that Dr Liu, 64, had been treating patients with a respiratory illness in Southern China, where the virus originated about five months ago. The official from Guangzhou hospital told Hong Kong's Kwong Wah Hospital to put Dr Liu in isolation. Too late. It was closing the barn door after the horses had fled. Dr Liu had been to a hotel, and now, you and I are living in fear.

It was concluded that Dr Liu had coughed and sneezed while waiting for the lift at the Metropole. In doing so, he started a chain of events that spread the virus around the world.

The hotel guests to whom Dr Liu had spread the virus, enjoyed their holidays, and unwittingly carried the virus across Asia and to North America and Europe.

Experts now believe Dr Liu was the single source of at least 500 of the cases outside China. Six days before arriving in Hong Kong, the doctor picked up the virus from a patient in the province. His decision to go ahead with his visit to Hong Kong despite his illness appears to have made the difference between the virus being contained in China and its global spread.

Hong Kong health officials stand accused of failing to alert the Metropole Hotel and the community about Dr Liu's sickness when he was first admitted and when the Chinese authorities first warned them of the virus more than a month ago. If they had, the outbreak might have been contained on that ninth floor.

Thailand is taking no chances. Its citizens who have been to SARS affected countries must stay at home for 14 days on their return or face jail. New Zealand and Switzerland bar tourists from SARS-affected countries.

Our Health Ministry should learn from all this, should learn from the Nipah outbreak that killed over 100 Malaysians, should learn from the Coxsackie scourge that took the lives of Malaysian children. The Health Ministry should be much wiser.

As there is no cure (The World Health Organisation (WHO) hopes to come up with a vaccine in less than six years), prevention is at present the most effective cure.

The Press has received advisory from the Health Ministry not to write stories that may alarm the public. I am no alarmist but while it is understandable that the authorities do not want to panic the public or rock the economic boat, the lives of a population are at stake.

Where is that all-out general election-style campaign over the radio, TV, newspapers, etc, to tell the people the "dos and don'ts" in dealing with this invisible killer? Internationally, a lot of detective work is being done as WHO and other agencies track down SARS carriers and fight against time to develop a vaccine. Scientists from East to West are casting aside occupational rivalry to join forces in coming up with measures to contain this contagion.

A number of doctors, when confronting the virus, consequently died. Most conspicuous among the fallen was Italy's Dr Carlo Urbani, the discoverer of SARS.

Such is the fear of the SARS attack that authorities from several countries are tracking down suspected carriers, from planes to taxis. In America, a jetliner was isolated on landing and surrounded by a fleet of ambulances and emergency vehicles after some passengers complained of flu-like symptoms.

Eerily, Hong Kong movie superstar Leslie Cheung had told a friend over lunch on April's Fool Day to be careful about SARS before plunging to his death from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

The Health Ministry should treat SARS like the plague and go all-out to inform Malaysians on how to avoid or confront it.

I can face the haze, live with the Nipah virus outbreak, or hug an HIV positive person, but SARS has become my worst nightmare.

[george]

Cockroaches may be spreading "SARS"

A top health official says cockroaches may be spreading "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome", or "SARS".

The bugs might have carried infected waste from sewage pipes into apartments in Hong Kong.

The apartments housed a quarter of the city's infections.

Initial testing showed roaches collected over the weekend carried traces of virus.

Hong Kong has been reporting daily double-digit increases in new cases of SARS, including 45 on Tuesday, when the territory's total reached 928. Twenty-five have now died in the territory, and hospitals braced for a worst-case scenario of 3,000 patients by the end of the month.

``It's looking like it's going to be a long, long, drawn-out battle,'' said Dr. Gavin Joynt, director of the intensive care unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital. ``We don't know where the end is going to be. One of the major stresses that we are dealing with is not knowing where this is going to go.''

The two latest fatalities in Hong Kong were both men, ages 81 and 74, who had histories of chronic illnesses before they were infected with SARS, officials said. Both died Monday night.

Health officials said Tuesday night they are watching a housing development where 30 people fell ill with a flu-like illness, just across the road from a complex that suffered a severe outbreak.

Thailand's prime minister warned Tuesday that SARS is hampering Asia's economic recovery by choking off regional tourism. Thailand, with 11 suspected cases of SARS and two deaths, has imposed strict containment measures, including a 14-day stay-at-home quarantine for Thais returning from affected areas.

Worldwide, more than 2,600 people have been sickened, and the death toll hit 104 Tuesday with the two deaths in Hong Kong and another reported in Singapore. In the United States, there now are about 150 cases in 30 states, with no deaths.

On Tuesday, a Chinese health official said the number of new SARS cases dropped sharply this month in Guangdong, the southern province near Hong Kong where some experts believe the outbreak began.

Guangdong reported 21 new SARS cases and three SARS deaths in the first week of April, said Huang Qingdao, director-general of the province's Health Department.

Huang told a news conference that was ``much lower than in February,'' when there were 688 new cases and 28 deaths in Guangdong. In March, there were 364 new cases and nine deaths.

The outbreak is ``effectively controlled, and the number of sick people is continuing to drop,'' Huang said.

A U.S. health official said the spread of the illness may be slowing.

``I think we've started to stabilize in the number of cases. We're not seeing these large jumps every day,'' said Jerry Hauer, acting assistant secretary for public health preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Hauer said it was too early to declare victory.

``We don't know yet whether ... we're through act one of a two-act play or whether we're just four lines into a three-act play,'' Hauer said.

Fear remains deep across Asia. Frightened people, including hundreds of thousands in Hong Kong, have been wearing surgical masks as a precaution.

The territorial government leader, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, also started wearing a mask, though not in public. On Tuesday, he urged calm and told Hong Kongers to ``face the disease sensibly.''

In Thailand, panicky residents and some medical personnel blocked Tuesday's cremation of a Hong Kong man who died of SARS, fearing the deadly virus would spread through the smoke. The body was put in a mortuary freezer until the situation was resolved.

Thai officials say they are sure SARS cannot be spread through cremation.

Singapore officials were considering installing cameras in the homes of people under quarantine to make sure they do not leave, and Vietnam said it may bar visitors from countries with the mysterious flu-like disease.

Most SARS victims seem able to recover with timely hospital care, but researchers have not yet confirmed the cause of the disease or found a cure. The symptoms include fever, aches, dry cough and shortness of breath.

A Hong Kong Health Department official expressed worry Tuesday that Hong Kongers carrying the SARS virus but showing no symptoms could remain contagious for some time.

At least 16 people evacuated from an infected apartment complex and moved into quarantine camps have been identified as carriers of the virus.

``This is a rather new type of virus, we are not sure how long it will remain in the body of the carrier,'' said Dr. Tse Lai-yin on a radio show. ``It could be three months or six months.''

Dr. Samson Wong, who teaches microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, said SARS might infect 80 percent of the population within two years, and the remaining 20 percent after that.

-- AP