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Colombia: Outbreak of Undiagnosed Severe Respiratory Disease -------------------------------------------------- From 25 Sep to 28 Nov 2003, 38 cases of a severe acute respiratory disease have been reported to the Colombian National Institute of Health (INS). The illness develops in a range of 10 to 7 days. The disease begins with high respiratory symptoms and fever, cough (with or without expectoration), dyspnea, headache, asthenia, and/or adynamia. Diarrhea, vomit or intense thoracic pain can also be present. Chest x-rays show interstitial and alveolar infiltrates. This illness has resulted in 13 deaths. Information coming from health care providers of National Institutions indicates an increase...

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.