NoCarrier

Worldwide killer bug warning

Efforts to stop a deadly pneumonia may not prevent a global explosion in cases, a world-leading infectious disease expert has warned.

Dr Julie Gerberding, a director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said on Thursday that a massive scientific drive to beat the illness may be too late to prevent a major outbreak across every continent of the world.

Experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) finally reached Guangdong province in China on Thursday, thought to be at the e-p-i-c-entre of the Sars outbreak, where they will start work trying to unmask the source of the illness.

In an unprecedented move on Wednesday, the WHO told travellers to postpone non-essential trips to this part of China, or Hong Kong, where there have been hundreds of probable cases and dozens of deaths.

There have been 72 probable cases of Sars in the US so far, but Dr Gerberding fears that the worst could yet be to come.

In the New England Journal of Medicine, she wrote: "A very sobering question remains - are we fast enough?

"Can we prevent a global pandemic of Sars?"

"If the virus moves faster than our scientific, communications and control capacities, we could be in for a long, difficult race.

"The stakes are high, and the outcome cannot be predicted."

Scientists are worried about Sars because it is possible that it could, in some cases, become airborne and infect people far more easily.

If this is the case, then it would become far more difficult to contain.

There is now strong evidence that the illness is caused by a new strain of Corona virus, although this is not yet proven.

The WHO delegation in Guangdong province will investigate theories that the virus "jumped" from animals into humans.

The WHO travel advice does not apply yet to other areas, such as Singapore, Vietnam or Canada, where outbreaks appear to have been effectively contained.

As well as the latest deaths in Guangdong, China said there were 361 new cases in the province in March.

Health officials said several cases of Sars have also been discovered in Shanghai, China's second-largest city.

In Taiwan, a 30-minute public information programme about the risks of Sars was broadcast on Thursday.

Teachers, government employees and servicemen were all "obliged" to watch it.

Meanwhile, Canada, the worst-affected country outside Asia, said two more people have died from Sars in Toronto, bring to six the total number of fatalities in Canada.

The country has imposed mandatory quarantine on two people it said had been in contact with Sars patients, and were choosing to disregard instructions to stay away from other members of the public.

In Thailand, authorities have said that they are prepared to quarantine - for weeks if necessary - every passenger on any aircraft found to be carrying a Sars patient.

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NoCarrier

Article from the CDC

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/reprint/NEJMe030067v1.pdf

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vending_machine

blah blah.. I think it's all hyped up for some reason

Sure, there has been alleged cases in the US, but for all we know those could've been the flu. There is NO way yet to know if you currently have SARS.

NoCarrier

You think a director of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC - Dr Julie Gerberding) would be alarmed just to maintain the media hype? You are propably right.

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12clicks

thank the chinese for this. Fucking bastards pretended it didn't exist. Just like they did for years with aids.

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vending_machine

There is more at stake here for her. This is a career stunt from her part, we'll see if she gets lucky or not. Let's hope not.

All I know is:

1) You can't diagnose SARS

2) No one in the US has died from SARS that we know of.


Those are facts, my initial thoughts are speculations on my part. Take them for what they are.

Probono

This disease like flu is a product of China's farm commnities that breed, ducks and pigs in fields with human feces used as fertilizer. It is a genetic mish mass and each year it kills with new flu starins.

This one will be worse than a flu because if it is a corona virus like the common cold and kills 3-4% it will kill millions before it runs it's course. We have no way to treat the corona virius or the cld would be history.

NoCarrier

Death rate is also higher with SARS than the spanish flu.

Spanish flu death rate was around 3%

So people saying that we do not need to worry because the death rate is low might want to think again. 4% of millions of people infected is a lot of dead people.

The scientists are concerned because 10 to 20% of people infected *need* a respirator to survive. It's not like the health care system has an infinite amount of resources if it spreads.

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Massivecock

Man Made Virus.
Over Hyped.
Created to spread Fear.
Distract People From the Real Issues.
Like
9-11.
The Iraq Invasion.
Anthrax.
Federal Reserve Scam.
Comprehensive Financial Annual Reports.

How many people die a day from alcohol?
Like 1000!

Ohh lets not worry about that!

5 people a day die from some weak ass flu.
All old peple and shit!

funkmaster

... yes, I wonder how much longer it will take until they find it in some big african, south american city ... no way to stop the spread then ...

... bought my mask a week ago ...

Jon

It's media bullshit. just like everything else in the USA. The media doesn't want to concentrate only on the war, so they send out some people to find stealth news stories like viruses.. WOOO. Whatever happened to those killer africanized bees that Texas was supposed to get, and then spread to the midwest. Don't see those fuckers flying around. What about west nile virus? Where'd that go? There are much scarier things than a stupid flu on steroids, try EBOLA. Fuck! I'd rather get a flu on steroids with a 4% chance of dying than the Ebola virus!

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