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Health Agency Probes Mysterious Illness

18 minutes ago

By DANIEL YEE, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - Federal health officials said Sunday they are analyzing samples from a mysterious pneumonia-like illness that has afflicted more than 150 people in seven countries and caused nine deaths. Doctors hope to have initial results from testing early this week.

Officials also are handing out information cards to travelers from countries where the disease has appeared, asking them to see a doctor if they experience symptoms such as high fever or respiratory problems.

"This is an evolving problem," Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites), said Sunday. "We want to keep our mind to new information as we learn more."

No cases had been identified Sunday in the United States, although the CDC had received calls about potential cases that are being investigated, Gerberding said.

Two people who had been in this country are believed to have developed the mysterious illness. A doctor from Singapore was taken off a New York-to-Singapore flight in Germany on Saturday and quarantined, and a woman, hospitalized in Canada with similar symptoms, had traveled to Atlanta on business shortly before becoming ill.

Little is known about the disease, called Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome.

More than a week after it began appearing, health officials still didn't know if it was a virus or bacteria. CDC officials said it appears to affect only those in close contact with infected people — family members and health care workers — from afflicted areas, countries that include China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Gerberding said doctors are unsure whether antibiotics or antiviral drugs have an effect on the disease since they have not been consistently used in the areas with the most cases.

Although the CDC is keeping "an open mind" about bioterrorism, Gerberding said the mystery illness appears to be naturally occurring.

"Right now, it's an issue for travelers returning from parts of Asia, we're not seeing a spread" in the United States, Gerberding said Sunday. "We've taken steps to put the health system on alert."
Gerberding said the CDC is working to get more samples for its labs to analyze. Tests could take several days, but officials said they hope to have initial results ready by early this week.

The CDC's emergency operations center — which previously handled the 2001 anthrax attacks and last year's explosion of the West Nile virus (news - web sites) — has been activated to coordinate a multinational effort in learning about the new disease.

In Frankfurt, Germany, hospital officials who were monitoring the Singapore surgeon said his condition had slightly worsened Sunday. His mother-in-law had a high fever, and his pregnant wife appeared to be OK, they added.

The 32-year-old doctor, who was not identified, was taken off a Singapore Airlines New York-to-Singapore flight during a stopover in Frankfurt, the Associated Press reports.
The surgeon had treated one of the earliest cases in Singapore, and had then flown to a medical meeting in New York City, according to Thompson.

He may have gone to a hospital in New York -- the agency did not know which one -- before flying back. Before boarding the flight, he called a colleague in Singapore to describe his symptoms, and the colleague notified WHO officials, The New York Times reports.

A New York City Health Department statement issued late Saturday said that the surgeon was in stable condition. In an interview with the city health officials, the statement said, the doctor told them that he had flown in on Wednesday, left on Friday, had had minimal contact with people in New York City and had attended the medical conference for only a few hours.