There is no sign of the global SARS outbreak abating, with a worrying surge in new cases in Hong Kong on Friday, and a senior Chinese health official warning that the outbreak is not under control.
Epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, director of the Respiratory Disease Research Institute in the Guandong province where SARS originated, disputed the Chinese government's claims to have controlled SARS. "Looking at this from a medical point of view, this disease has not been effectively controlled at all," he said. "The origin of this disease is still not clear, so how can you say it has been controlled?" He said "contained" might be a better description.
Following initial work, the World Health Organization is to strengthen its investigative team in China. "This is necessary for us to have a better understanding of the disease and develop more effective control and treatment strategies for SARS," says Hitoshi Oshitani, a WHO regional adviser in Manilla, the Philippines.
By Friday, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) had killed at least 117 people and infected over 3000 in over 30 countries. The key problem hampering the efforts of health officials to halt the outbreak is their continued lack of understanding about how the virus that causes the disease spreads.
As a result, draconian protective measures are being implemented in many countries around the world, with thousands being held in quarantine. On Friday, the Hong Kong authorities also barred people who have had close contact with SARS victims from leaving the region. Police have hunted down a number of people who fled quarantine.
In Singapore, the authorities aim to ensure compliance by installing internet-linked cameras in the homes of quarantined people. And in Canada, blood donations from people who have visited SARS-affected regions have been stopped, as a precaution.
Super-spreaders
Most SARS victims are either closely related to other victims or healthcare personnel working with patients. The virus probably spreads via direct inhalation of the body fluids expelled by coughing, or by touching surfaces soon after they are infected.
But investigators are still examining how some unrelated people have contracted SARS. "Super-spreaders", who survive the disease but are highly infectious, are one possibility. A young Singaporean woman is now believed to be linked to virtually all of that country's 130 cases.
New information has also emerged from the investigation of the Amoy Gardens housing complex in Hong Kong, where 200 resident caught SARS. The virus was found in basins and toilets, say officials, suggesting the virus travelled through the clogged sewage system. Malik Pieris, head of virology at the University of Hong Kong, also reports that tests show the virus can survive in faeces.
Speculation that rats or cockroaches can spread the disease have been dismissed, as have Russian claims that the SARS virus is a biological weapon.
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Epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan, director of the Respiratory Disease Research Institute in the Guandong province where SARS originated, disputed the Chinese government's claims to have controlled SARS. "Looking at this from a medical point of view, this disease has not been effectively controlled at all," he said. "The origin of this disease is still not clear, so how can you say it has been controlled?" He said "contained" might be a better description.
Following initial work, the World Health Organization is to strengthen its investigative team in China. "This is necessary for us to have a better understanding of the disease and develop more effective control and treatment strategies for SARS," says Hitoshi Oshitani, a WHO regional adviser in Manilla, the Philippines.
By Friday, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) had killed at least 117 people and infected over 3000 in over 30 countries. The key problem hampering the efforts of health officials to halt the outbreak is their continued lack of understanding about how the virus that causes the disease spreads.
As a result, draconian protective measures are being implemented in many countries around the world, with thousands being held in quarantine. On Friday, the Hong Kong authorities also barred people who have had close contact with SARS victims from leaving the region. Police have hunted down a number of people who fled quarantine.
In Singapore, the authorities aim to ensure compliance by installing internet-linked cameras in the homes of quarantined people. And in Canada, blood donations from people who have visited SARS-affected regions have been stopped, as a precaution.
Super-spreaders
Most SARS victims are either closely related to other victims or healthcare personnel working with patients. The virus probably spreads via direct inhalation of the body fluids expelled by coughing, or by touching surfaces soon after they are infected.
But investigators are still examining how some unrelated people have contracted SARS. "Super-spreaders", who survive the disease but are highly infectious, are one possibility. A young Singaporean woman is now believed to be linked to virtually all of that country's 130 cases.
New information has also emerged from the investigation of the Amoy Gardens housing complex in Hong Kong, where 200 resident caught SARS. The virus was found in basins and toilets, say officials, suggesting the virus travelled through the clogged sewage system. Malik Pieris, head of virology at the University of Hong Kong, also reports that tests show the virus can survive in faeces.
Speculation that rats or cockroaches can spread the disease have been dismissed, as have Russian claims that the SARS virus is a biological weapon.
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