FRIDAY, May 2, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- Despite having enough information to warrant a global SARS warning, the World Health Organization (WHO) waited a week before it finally alerted the world on March 12 about the deadly infectious respiratory disease, a Toronto Star investigative report says.
Evidence available to WHO officials in Geneva included e-mails describing a wave of respiratory disease hitting doctors and nurses in Vietnam. The WHO was aware that the Vietnam outbreak was similar to an earlier infection noted in Southeast China, the Star reports.
A WHO official based in Vietnam told the Toronto newspaper that by March 5, it was apparent that a dangerously contagious disease was in the Hanoi area. That information was sent to WHO headquarters.
The Star didn't receive any response from WHO officials to verbal and written inquires about why the agency did not issue a global alert sooner.
In other developments on the SARS front, researchers in Hong Kong warn that the virus is mutating rapidly. And that could make it much more difficult for scientists to develop a diagnosis and vaccine for the disease, Channel NewsAsia reports.
The Hong Kong researchers say they've found two forms of the virus after doing genetic sequencing on virus samples taken from 11 SARS patients. That indicates the SARS virus is undergoing rapid evolution in infected people in Hong Kong, a researcher said.
"This rapid evolution is like that of a murderer who is trying to change his fingerprints or even his appearance to try to escape detection," Dr. Dennis Lo, a chemical pathologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Channel NewsAsia.
SARS patients in Hong Kong have been ordered not to hug or kiss anyone for a month after they're released from the hospital, in case they may still be carrying the virus.
On Friday, Hong Kong reported eight more SARS deaths and 11 new infections, for a death toll of 170 and 1,611 cases of infection.
SARS has killed more than 400 people worldwide and infected more than 5,900 in 20 countries.
WHO officials have told health experts around the world that they should use new genetic tests to check people who are suspected of being infected with SARS. That way, those infected can quickly be put into isolation, the Washington Post reports.
China has been the hardest-hit country. There were 11 new reported deaths there Friday and 176 new SARS cases. In total, SARS has killed 181 people in China and infected 3,823 people.
In Beijing, a city health official said the capital city will likely continue to record new SARS cases at the current rate of 100 per day, BBC News Online reports.
But the health official also said the SARS outbreak in Beijing is nearing its peak and the infection rate could begin to subside within 10 days.
The Chinese government has called for a "people's war" on SARS. That effort includes restricting the travel of university students and migrant workers in Beijing to prevent SARS from invading the countryside, the Associated Press reports.
University students in Beijing will now be required to have health checks before they're given permission to leave the city and will be forbidden from visiting rural areas and locations affected by SARS. On their return to Beijing, the students will be put under strict quarantine, the AP reports.
In another move to control the spread of SARS, the Chinese government has banned tourists from traveling to western regions of the country, as well as Tibet.
In Toronto, experts wrapped up a two-day international SARS conference Thursday by saying progress has been made against the disease, but strong international cooperation is needed to control it, CBC News Online reports.
A WHO director attending the conference said countries need to quickly and accurately report information about SARS, which he described as a "global emergency."
In Taiwan, there were 11 new SARS cases and two deaths reported Thursday. The number of cases there has more than doubled, from 41 to 89, since last Friday, The New York Times reports.
Scientists in Taiwan say there's new evidence of SARS in hospitals and the general community and that large numbers of people are being ordered into quarantine.
While the United States has barely been touched by SARS, a newly released Associated Press poll found that nearly half of all Americans believe that within months, the United States will be dealing with a SARS epidemic like the one now raging through Asia.
More information
For more information on SARS, visit the World Health
Organization or the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
