Airlines Urged To Screen Passengers For SARS
No Deaths Reported In U.S.
Updated: 12:32 p.m. EST March 27, 2003
World health officials had previously said a mystery illness was unlikely to spread on airplanes, but now they aren't so sure.
The World Health Organization is urging airlines to screen passengers for the deadly flulike illness that's sparked a worldwide health alert. Severe acute respiratory syndrome has killed more than 50 people and sickened hundreds of others, mostly in Southeast Asia.
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How SARS WorksHong Kong had reported nine passengers got sick from exposure to one passenger on a flight earlier this month.
The WHO says close contact on a plane is compounded by the length of flights. It describes close contact as sitting within two rows of an infected person.
The agency's airline request will go to world governments, which have the final say on whether to enforce it.
Meanwhile, countries around the world are taking steps to control the deadly respiratory ailment.
As of Wednesday, 45 suspected U.S. cases of SARS were under investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 1,000 people in Hong Kong have been told to stay home for the next 10 days and check in regularly with health officials. If they don't, they risk being put in jail.
Chinese government officials say SARS has claimed 34 lives and sickened almost 800 in that country alone.
The new numbers bring the worldwide death toll from SARS to 53. More than 1,300 cases have been reported since mid-September.
Until now, Chinese authorities said only five people had died from the pneumonialike illness.
The country has been criticized by the World Health Organization and by neighboring Taiwan for being reluctant to provide information about the outbreak, which started in China last fall.
A WHO team is in China to research and control the outbreak, but they have been denied access to Guangdong Province, where the disease is thought to have originated, Taiwan News reported.
A voluntary quarantine is in effect for thousands of Canadians who visited a Toronto hospital that has since been shut down by an outbreak.
Toronto's medical officer is advising everybody who has visited the Scarborough Grace Hospital since March 16 to stay home for 10 days. The doctor said the number of people covered by the quarantine could be in the thousands.
A nearby Toronto school, where some children came down with symptoms, has also been closed.
A medical alert has also been ordered in Taiwan.
Singapore closed its schools Thursday, and officials said they would be closed until April 6.
The Rolling Stones have postponed two weekend shows in Hong Kong over concerns about spreading SARS.
The band issued a statement saying the Stones didn't think it was a good idea to draw a large crowd that might add to the spread of the mysterious respiratory illness.
Scientists from the World Health Organization say the disease spreads when victims cough or sneeze in close contact with others.
But researchers in Hong Kong think they have identified the primary cause -- an easily transmitted virus.
Copyright 2003 by NBC6.net. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.