WHO confirms SARS in Chinese journalist
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《英国医生杂志》
Hong Kong
China has confirmed a new case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It is the country's first new case since the outbreak last year, which came under control in July only after it infected more than 8000 people and caused 774 deaths in 27 countries. This is the first case that cannot be linked to a source. Two isolated cases—in Singapore in September and Taipei in December last year—were caused by contamination in a laboratory.
The latest patient, a 32 year old journalist from Panyu, near the Guangdong provincial capital of Guangzhou, became ill on 16 December, developed a fever and pneumonia, and was admitted to hospital in isolation on 20 December. He has since recovered and was due to be discharged on 8 January.
None of the 81 people who had been in contact with him have developed any symptoms of SARS.
Initial diagnostic tests to determine whether the man had SARS were inconclusive, and the World Health Organization commissioned further testing by two laboratories in Hong Kong that are members of its Multicentre Collaborative Network for SARS Diagnosis. "This is now a confirmed SARS case. This is not a reactivation of anything he had before, it's a brand new infection," said Peter Cordingley, WHO's spokesman in Manila.
The case emerged at the same time as scientists in Hong Kong and China announced findings of research into the presence of a SARS coronavirus in wild animals sold for food in Guangdong province. A collaborative project between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong found that civet cats have the highest frequency of the virus—16 out of 21 civet cats sampled carried the SARS virus.
The results of genetic sequencing of samples from the latest patient with SARS show that the virus that infected him is similar to that carried by the civet cats. This strain is different from that detected in humans and animals last year, indicating that a new sublineage of the SARS coronavirus has jumped the species barrier in the past month.
The Chinese government responded swiftly to this announcement by ordering the immediate culling of civet cats in Guangdong province and the permanent closure of all wild animal markets there. The authorities announced on 6 January that all the estimated 10 000 civet cats would be slaughtered by 10 January. However, WHO said that no animal reservoir of the SARS coronavirus has been conclusively identified and urged caution in the slaughter. "If it is done in a slap-dash way the people doing the work could get infected," said Mr Cordingley.(Jane Parry)
China has confirmed a new case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It is the country's first new case since the outbreak last year, which came under control in July only after it infected more than 8000 people and caused 774 deaths in 27 countries. This is the first case that cannot be linked to a source. Two isolated cases—in Singapore in September and Taipei in December last year—were caused by contamination in a laboratory.
The latest patient, a 32 year old journalist from Panyu, near the Guangdong provincial capital of Guangzhou, became ill on 16 December, developed a fever and pneumonia, and was admitted to hospital in isolation on 20 December. He has since recovered and was due to be discharged on 8 January.
None of the 81 people who had been in contact with him have developed any symptoms of SARS.
Initial diagnostic tests to determine whether the man had SARS were inconclusive, and the World Health Organization commissioned further testing by two laboratories in Hong Kong that are members of its Multicentre Collaborative Network for SARS Diagnosis. "This is now a confirmed SARS case. This is not a reactivation of anything he had before, it's a brand new infection," said Peter Cordingley, WHO's spokesman in Manila.
The case emerged at the same time as scientists in Hong Kong and China announced findings of research into the presence of a SARS coronavirus in wild animals sold for food in Guangdong province. A collaborative project between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong found that civet cats have the highest frequency of the virus—16 out of 21 civet cats sampled carried the SARS virus.
The results of genetic sequencing of samples from the latest patient with SARS show that the virus that infected him is similar to that carried by the civet cats. This strain is different from that detected in humans and animals last year, indicating that a new sublineage of the SARS coronavirus has jumped the species barrier in the past month.
The Chinese government responded swiftly to this announcement by ordering the immediate culling of civet cats in Guangdong province and the permanent closure of all wild animal markets there. The authorities announced on 6 January that all the estimated 10 000 civet cats would be slaughtered by 10 January. However, WHO said that no animal reservoir of the SARS coronavirus has been conclusively identified and urged caution in the slaughter. "If it is done in a slap-dash way the people doing the work could get infected," said Mr Cordingley.(Jane Parry)