SARS is now in Ft. Lauderdale
 

Oh My God. Its here in South Florida now!

1st suspected SARS case found in county

By Nancy McVicar
Health Writer
Posted April 12 2003

Broward County has its first suspected SARS case, a 51-year-old man who traveled to an area affected by the new respiratory disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome, health officials said Friday.

The man, who was not identified, was hospitalized Thursday night in an intensive care unit at an unnamed hospital. He is not seriously ill but was placed in the ICU so he can be kept away from other patients, said Dr. Tammy Blankenship, director of disease prevention and surveillance at the Broward County Health Department.

"He is not on assisted breathing at all. ICU was chosen because you can use isolation precautions. [Medical personnel] wear gowns, gloves, face shields and masks and wash their hands afterwards," Blankenship said.

She said blood and sputum samples from the patient will be sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to be tested for the previously unknown coronavirus that researchers think is causing the illness.

The man has been interviewed for travel history and a list of close contacts, all of whom are in the process of being notified, Blankenship said.

The Broward case brings the total number of suspected SARS cases in Florida to 12, said Dr. Steven Wiersma, state epidemiologist. None has been confirmed through lab tests.

Reacting to two other suspected Florida cases, the CDC has issued updated protocols on how to protect students and workers who might have been exposed to the virus in their schools or offices.

In one case, a 47-year-old Gainesville area woman might have been infected by a co-worker who had traveled to Asia, the first suspected case of transmission into the community. All other suspected cases in this country have been in close family or in health care workers who treated a sick person who traveled abroad.

The second Florida case involves a 6-year-old boy in Okaloosa County who went to school with a cough after being cared for by a grandparent with a suspected case of SARS.

The CDC guidelines, available on its Web site, www.cdc.gov, recommend that as long as fellow students are not showing symptoms, they should be allowed to be in school. At the same time, people should be "vigilant" for the onset of symptoms and report the exposure.

Wiersma said the CDC has agreed to expedite the testing of sputum and blood samples in the two cases to determine whether they are SARS.

"CDC has prioritized the testing in these two contacts because we're all concerned," Wiersma said, but he cautioned that there is a very good chance they are not infected with SARS. The illnesses have been mild, unlike what has been seen in Hong Kong, mainland China, Hanoi, Vietnam and Singapore, he said.

Indonesia and the Philippines reported their first cases on Friday, both in foreigners who had traveled to Hong Kong or Singapore, bringing the number of nations with reported cases to 20.

Gov. Jeb Bush said in Orlando that the state would impose quarantine on those with the disease only if absolutely necessary, and that point had not been reached.

"We have not found any case where it needs to be quarantined yet, whether it be a business or a school, but we're very careful about it, very serious about it," Bush said.

It has been almost a month since the World Health Organization issued its first global alert after seeing the spread of the mystery disease create panic in much of Asia, the worst-hit region. WHO said on Friday that there were signs that the disease's spread might have peaked.

"The story of hope is that it is being contained. There is absolutely no doubt that it is," said Mike Ryan, WHO's leader for global alert and response coordination.

WHO figures from April 10 show 111 deaths and 2,781 cases of SARS worldwide since the sickness is thought to have started in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong last November. Out of these, 1,337 have recovered.

In Hong Kong, which has the highest incidence after China, there were signs that local health authorities were beginning to win the battle. This was despite the fact that Hong Kong reported 61 fresh cases on Friday, more than double the previous day's.

A WHO official said the jump was because of a computer glitch that had led to an accumulation of cases that had occurred in earlier days.

Singapore and Canada are the third and fourth most affected countries, hit by a disease spread around the globe by air travel.

With 55 deaths, according to WHO, and 1,290 cases, China has been the country worst hit.

roger v??

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Pretty scary that SARS is on the quarantine list. Right up there with bubonic plague and yellow fever.

We've had 21 suspected cases in Washington state. 11 of them in the county where I live.

Toronto already has 10 fatalities and over 200 suspected/probable cases. TO is only an hour from where I live and that convention next week is scaring me...

WG

Toronto is two hours from where I live and it is scaring me even more! Now, doesn't this sound like the ultimate killing machine?

I have this image of a biological warefare techie goiing "ooopppps!" some months ago... and releasing it by accident. Seriously, it sound like a bio-weapon that got released by accident. The virus is just too perfect a killing machine!

Speaking of Toronto, think we can convince Angelonfire to drop by and show us her tits in person? Legal in Ontario now you know...

Ok where is MassiveCock or Wonton this is def. something the Government (Bush Personally) and the Health Insurance companies are behind.

32 Years ago Colin Powell Worked as a delivery boy for a pharmacy.

it's getting bad around the airport (Ft. Lauderdale at least) went there to pick someone up and ppl are wearing mask now like it's fucking Japan. i live in the same county where all this is going on (Broward) pretty shitty move from ohio to Florida and this shit hope to hell i don't get that shit:2 cents:

this will become a problem.......especially when it mutates :mad:

Better get yourself a mask too :thumbsup

wow that shit was in my town and I didn't even see it in the newspaper...

All known deaths to date appear to be people already infected with another disease... The sole purpose of SARS is to mutate existing diseases! Scary little bug that got released.

I'm not liking this disease too much. I hope they can find something to combat this very soon. :(

Ah, lack of proper reseach and knowledge is bliss. Researchers reported that the gene sequence suggests a previously unknown coronavirus unrelated to any known human or animal viruses.

Operative words "unrelated to any known". This is a new bug and Mother Nature hates being rushed. China army hospitals are now under investigation for unreported cases of SARS...

Funny how the USA was so worried about Iraq's biological weapsons of mass destruction, yet people quickly blow off the fact that they can exist and may now be out there in our back yard. None were found in Iraq, but everything points to one being found in China.

Oh yes, us sheeps are safe as it is unreleated to "animal vuruses". BAAAAAD Bug.