Man being tested for SARS virus

A JAPANESE man who flew to Hong Kong from mainland China has been hospitalised with fever and is being tested for SARS, officials said today.

The 29-year-old man, who had been in the mainland city of Dalian, was being treated in isolation a spokeswoman for Hong Kong's Queen Elizabeth Hospital said.

The man was in stable condition and authorities were conducting various tests, including one for the SARS virus, she said.

A report on Hong Kong's Commercial Radio said the man's chest x-ray showed patches – which can appear in SARS patients.

I already had the flu so since SARS is late maybe (hopefully) it will be less widespread.

If this is a true case of SARS, then it is quite early. Last year news of SARS didn't really get out until January, and then it was in Guangdong Province where it emerged from an animal reservoir (probably masked palm civets).

Dalian is up near Beijing, so if its SARS, it probably came from a human, suggesting multiple outbreaks this season over and above the animal jumps seen last year.

they better start tracking down everyone on that plane

Hong Kong is well aware of potential in flight transmission. Last year flight CA-112 (Air China) from Hong Kong to Beijing resulted in at least 25 on board transmissions on March 15. The virus transmitted from Hong Kong (Prince of Wales hospital) to Beijing, infected many Health Care Workers in Beijing and the two stewardess on board were the index cases for Hohhot near Inner Mongolia.

In addition to the above mainland outbreaks, 9 members of a Hong Kong tour group, 6 members of a Taiwanese business group, and two government officials from China developed SARS. One of the officials then infected Pekko Aro, an official from Finland. The airborne transmissions brought SARS inside the gates of the ruling party.

I suspect that one SARS positive will generate an over abundance of activity.

Just posting the entire article. Not really any new information, but posting it to save linking.

A JAPANESE man who flew to Hong Kong from mainland China has been hospitalised with fever and is being tested for SARS, officials said today.

The 29-year-old man, who had been in the mainland city of Dalian, was being treated in isolation a spokeswoman for Hong Kong's Queen Elizabeth Hospital said.

The man was in stable condition and authorities were conducting various tests, including one for the SARS virus, she said.

A report on Hong Kong's Commercial Radio said the man's chest x-ray showed patches – which can appear in SARS patients.

An outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) early this year sickened 1755 people in Hong Kong and killed 299. Although SARS was eventually contained, Hong Kong remains on high alert for any reappearance.

There have been several recent false alarms but no new SARS cases detected.

From last spring:

SARS: SARS Spreads to Northern Chinese City of Dalian

2003-05-12

DALIAN, China -- The northern Chinese city of Dalian on Monday reported its first two confirmed cases of SARS, one of which died on May 2.

Health officials last week were unsure whether the man who had died had the deadly virus which has killed at least 235 people in China since November, city officials said.

However, health officials ruled he was a SARS case posthumously after they determined one of his co-workers, now Dalian’s only living confirmed case, has the virus.

This city of about five million has about 100 people in quarantine, and about 200 more are being monitored, officials said.

While many Chinese businessmen on Monday continued to hide from the virus in their homes, university students expressed confidence in the measures the national, provincial and city governments in China have taken to prevent the further spread of the disease.

“Our government has taken steps to prevent the spread (of the disease),” said one student at the Dalian University of Finance and Economics.

The Dalian city government said on May 1 that all people traveling to the city from areas hard hit by the virus -- like Beijing and Guangdong Province -- are to stay in quarantine for 10 days upon arrival before they are free to move about in the city.

However, Dalian hotels, many of which have been ordered to set up areas to house guests in quarantine, reported last week that travelers from these areas are easily circumventing this order by either having a friend check them in or by staying at a friend’s house.

This is not the only preventative measure taken by the city that is being circumvented.

Vehicles from other provinces are being turned away at roadblocks on major roads into the city. However, many drivers are circumventing these roadblocks by taking minor streets without roadblocks into the city.

Other students said they have faith that science will find a way to control the disease soon.

“We are optimists,” said another DUFE student. “We don’t think SARS will last long. Science will develop a (cure) for it.”

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