Hopes rise over fight against SARS

HANOI, Vietnam — The World Heath Organization has congratulated Vietnam for being the first country to contain SARS.

And it says the situation has “stabilized” in Hong Kong, Singapore and Toronto, among the areas hit hardest by the deadly virus.

In a bright spot after weeks of bleak medical news from Asia, WHO officials said Monday there had not been any SARS cases identified in Vietnam since April 8 — meaning 20 days had passed since the last recorded infection.

However, the organization said it was essential to remain vigilant and monitor the situation closely for any new cases entering Vietnam.

The WHO says the 20-day timescale — twice the incubation period for the disease — is the limit required to confirm containment of the virus.

Since the outbreak began in February, Vietnam has had five deaths from SARS and 63 cases — all but five of whom have been discharged from hospital after successful treatment.

Congratulating Vietnam on its success, WHO Representative Pascale Brudon said it was “essential to identify the cases very fast, and isolate them properly so they cannot pass the disease onto others. Vietnam did this very well.”

Meanwhile authorities in neighboring China have intensified their fight against SARS.

Mainland China and Hong Kong have been hardest hit, together accounting for more than two thirds of the global death toll of 329. More than 5,200 have been infected, although many of these have recovered.

Vietnam has closed its northern border with China indefinitely.

Beijing authorities Sunday ordered the temporary closure of public places like theaters and libraries and suspended the approval of marriages in an effort to prevent gatherings where SARS can be spread.

City officials have also set aside a 40- hectare (98-acre) area in the northern suburbs for the construction of a special quarantine camp.

On Monday, China said eight more people died and another 203 were infected by the virus, taking the death toll to 139 and the number of cases to 3,106.

Across the Taiwan Strait, Taipei announced the island’s first SARS death and imposed a 10-day mandatory quarantine on all people arriving from areas hit hard by the flu-like disease. (Taiwan gets tough)

In Singapore meanwhile, health officials have announced hospitals will turn away visitors. Authorities in the city-state also planned to close dozens of food markets on Monday for a mass cleaning. Two more deaths reported Sunday took Singapore’s total death toll from SARS to 21. (Singapore moves)

Over the weekend health ministers from around Asia met in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to hammer out a battle plan against SARS.

More airport screening will be introduced, along with travel bans on suspected SARS sufferers and health declarations for travelers from affected countries.

Places like Hong Kong have already started using infra-red temperature scanners to check inbound travelers for fever at the busiest border crossing between the territory and mainland China.

Hong said on Monday five more people had died there from the virus and another 14 had been infected, taking the toll to 38 dead and 1,557 cases.

In other developments

ﾀ The head of the WHO believes there is still time to halt the global spread of the disease if affected countries take appropriate measures. In an interview Sunday with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Gro Harlem Brundtland said SARS did not necessarily have to become an endemic virus on the scale of the Spanish Influenza or HIV. “I think we still have a window of opportunity,” she said.

ﾀ U.S.-based health officials say SARS can be contained although it is unlikely it will be eradicated. “If we do the kind of common- sense public health measures we know work, we ought to be able to stop it from being a global pandemic,” Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CBS.

ﾀ At least five major cruise lines are asking passengers who have recently been to SARS affected areas to be medically screened before boarding as a way to head off SARS.

From CNN web site.