Pneumonia prompts world health alert

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Pneumonia prompts world health alert

03/15/2003

Associated Press

The World Health Organization warned a mysterious form of pneumonia was becoming

a " worldwide health threat " Saturday, as a case of the illness was suspected in

Europe for the first time.

In a rare " emergency travel advisory, " the health agency said it has received

more than 150 reports of acute respiratory syndrome in the past week.

On Saturday, a doctor believed to have the atypical form of pneumonia was taken

off a New York to Singapore flight during a stopover in Germany and quarantined

in a furt hospital. His two travel companions also were hospitalized.

Another 155 passengers aboard his flight were quarantined at the furt

airport but some of them were released.

Most cases of the illness involve medical workers in east Asia but the illness

has shown signs of spreading. Three people are confirmed to have died from it,

including an American businessman. Five other people died recently of similar

symptoms in southern China but it was not clear if the illness was the same.

" Until we can get a grip on it, I don't see how it will slow down, " WHO

spokesman Dick said in Geneva. " People are not responding to

antibiotics or antivirals, it's a highly contagious disease and it's moving

around by jet. It's bad. "

The unidentified doctor, who is from Singapore, had treated a patient with the

illness before traveling to New York to attend a conference, said Dr.

Wirtz, a health official in the German state of Hessen. He began to suffer

symptoms while in New York, she said in a statement.

Two people, his wife and another doctor, were still being held for observation

the Wolfgang Goethe University Clinic in furt.

There was concern the doctor may have infected others on board.

Another 155 passengers who deplaned in furt were held in quarantine at the

airport. German nationals were released while passengers from other nations in

transit to other cities in Europe were awaiting travel permission from those

countries, German health officials said. They did not give a breakdown of number

of travelers or destinations.

Eighty-five people bound for Singapore and the plane's 20-member crew continued

their journey, but they will be quarantined on their arrival in Singapore,

health officials said.

In an advisory sent to airlines, the WHO urged travelers who may have come in

contact with someone infected to watch for symptoms such as high fever, coughing

and shortness of breath.

The advisory did not call for restrictions on travel to any destination but said

people who suspect they may have the illness should seek medical attention and

not travel until they recover.

said he could not remember the WHO issuing such a travel advisory

before.

The illness is a " worldwide health threat, " said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland,

WHO's director general. " The world needs to work together to find its cause,

cure the sick, and stop its spread. "

Outbreaks of the disease have been reported in southern China, Hong Kong and

Singapore. Unconfirmed new cases have been reported in Vietnam and Taiwan.

A team of epidemiologists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam on Saturday and gathered samples from

people who may be infected. The samples were immediately sent to the agency's

laboratories in Atlanta for tests.

The Hanoi outbreak started after an American businessman traveling from Shanghai

via Hong Kong apparently infected up to 30 hospital workers, five of them listed

in critical condition. The unidentified U.S. citizen was evacuated and died in

Hong Kong.

" What is very important is infection control, which needs to be put in place, "

said Pascale Brudon, the World Health Organization's representative in Vietnam.

" We need to understand much more about what this disease is and how patients are

reacting to different treatment. "

In southern China's Guangdong province, an illness has in recent months killed

five people and sickened more than 300 with pneumonia. The public health bureau

there had no comment Saturday while calls went unanswered at the same agency in

the city of Guangzhou.

In Canada, Toronto Public Health officials said a woman died March 5 and her

adult son died March 13 after arriving recently from Hong Kong. Four of their

relatives have been hospitalized.

The pneumonia might have also emerged in British Columbia, where one person was

in intensive care at a Vancouver hospital and another person has recovered,

Toronto health officials said.

Health officials have set up a hot line in Toronto for people who fear they have

the illness.

APNP 03-15-03 1349CST