SARS Scare Prompts Plane Quarantine In California
Mystery Illness Pops Up In Australia
Updated: 5:37 p.m. EST April 1, 2003
Three passengers have been taken to a hospital in San Jose, Calif., after some people on a flight from Tokyo reported symptoms that may be associated with a deadly new illness.
Overview
New Cases Scare You?
All About SARS
How SARS WorksFive people, including two crew members, complained of flulike symptoms similar to those found in severe acute respiratory syndrome. Initial symptoms include fever, dry cough and shortness of breath.
The disease has killed more than 60 people worldwide, and sickened more than 1,800, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization.
Health officials said that except for those taken to a hospital, the rest of the passengers and crew will be allowed to go on their way, but they were told to watch for symptoms.
Officials don't believe the disease is contagious until a person shows symptoms. They don't know whether exposure on a flight is enough to infect people.
And some fellow passengers from Tuesday's flight believe the whole incident may have been an overreaction.
A couple from Oregon said the three passengers who were taken away in ambulances had shown no signs of being sick.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating about 70 suspected cases of SARS, but no deaths have been reported in the United States.There's no proven treatment for SARS. Scientists aren't even sure yet what causes it, although they expect to figure it out within days.
WHO Dr. Klaus Stohr said at a media briefing Tuesday that person-to-person contact is the major mode of the disease's transmission.
Some doctors have compared the disease to the Ebola virus in terms of transmission -- neither transmits easily in the air, and hospital workers have become infected and have then infected their family members.
However, Dr. David Heymann, WHO executive director of communicable diseases, said Ebola virus is a very fatal disease, with 50 to 70 percent of victims dying. Meanwhile, SARS has consistently had a 4 percent mortality rate.
Although Heymann said that number is still significant, 90 percent of SARS patients are on the road to recovery seven days after coming down with the disease. And the 4 percent who die are generally afflicted with another condition, such as diabetes, that impairs their immune systems.
Another WHO expert, Dr Guénaël Rodier, does not advise people to wear protective masks unless they are planning to care for or visit a patient with SARS. The experts say that most viruses are spread through handshakes or other contact.
In neighboring Canada, officials announced Tuesday that the disease has killed two additional people in Toronto, bringing the country's death toll to six -- all in Toronto.
Health authorities also say that at least two Canadian children may be suffering from SARS.
The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto confirmed that it's treating two probable and three suspected cases of SARS. Hospital officials aren't giving further details, except to confirm one of the patients is a 21-month-old child.
A WHO official said there hasn't been a "large number" of children getting the disease.
The illness was brought to Canada by air travelers from Asia. Toronto has the largest Chinese population in North America.
International arrivals at Toronto's airport are getting information on the illness, but health officials said it's not necessary to interview them all.
In Ontario, a health emergency has been declared. Access to hospitals has been restricted. People who could be infected have been asked to stay home for 10 days.
Meanwhile, the first case of SARS has been reported in Australia.
But the country's chief medical officer said the patient was treated at a hospital in Sydney late last month and has already recovered. He said the disease has not spread.
The man had been to Singapore, which remains a hot spot for SARS. Doctors and nurses there dealing with SARS patients are using special respirator suits designed for handling germ warfare attacks.
In Hong Kong, another hot spot, the government moved 240 people who live in an apartment building where there was a SARS outbreak to rural quarantine camps. The building had been sealed off, but uthorities moved the residents because they feared they couldn't stop the spread of the disease.
The deputy director of health said environmental factors in the building may be causing the disease to spread, although he did not say what these factors are.
Some have speculated a sewage leak was spreading the disease among residents of apartment units at one end of the building. Hong Kong reportedly now has nearly 700 cases of SARS.
Chinese authorities are urging doctors treating such patients to disinfect everything they touch and to wear multilayer surgical masks.
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.