Fox News wrote:World Health Alert Issued on Killer Pneumonia
Saturday, March 15, 2003
FRANKFURT, Germany — 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 Frankfurt hospital. His two travel companions also were hospitalized.
Another 155 passengers aboard his flight were quarantined at the Frankfurt 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 Thompson 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. Angela 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 Frankfurt.
There was concern the doctor may have infected others on board.
Another 155 passengers who deplaned in Frankfurt 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.
Thompson 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.
New anti-biotic and anti-viral resistant pneumonia killing..
Moderator: S2k Moderators
New anti-biotic and anti-viral resistant pneumonia killing..
This new form of Pneumonia originated in the far east and a family in Toronto is reeling from its effects after on member came back from east asia. 2 in that family dead...8 dead world wide...one man in quarantine in German hospital. This is not terror related but scary nonetheless. Luckily no Americans infected thus far.
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azsnowman
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That's true but I'm still not convenced that it's not terrorist related. I know a LOT of it has to do with the overuse of antibiotics, I mean everywhere you look, it's anti bacterial this, anti bacterial that, everything from handsoaps to shampoo, I'm surprized that there isn't anti bacterial toliet tissue for crips sake!
Dennis
Dennis
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