Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) |
May 19, 2004 Update
During April 22-29, the Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH)
reported a total of nine cases of SARS in China ; seven of the patients
were from Beijing , and two were from Anhui Province , located in east-central
China . One of the patients died.
Two of the nine patients were graduate students who worked at the China ’s
National Institute of Virology Laboratory (NIVL) in Beijing , which
is known to conduct research on SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The laboratory
was closed on April 23, potentially exposed personnel are being monitored
for signs of illness, and possible sources of infection for the two
laboratory workers are being investigated.
Of the seven other SARS cases, two were directly linked to close personal
contact with one of the graduate students who worked at NIVL; these
two cases were in the graduate student’s mother (who died) and
in a nurse who provided care to the graduate student. The remaining
five cases were linked to close contact with the nurse.
No further cases of SARS in China or anywhere else in the world have
been reported since April 29. Chinese authorities have carried out active
surveillance activities to identify other possible cases of SARS, including
enhanced surveillance for any flu-like illness and pneumonia of unknown
etiology. They also initiated measures to prevent the spread of SARS
among travelers, including health screening of travelers at ports of
exit/entry.
On May 18, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported
on its website that the outbreak in China appears to have been
contained, but that biosafety concerns remain and further investigation
is under way. WHO and Chinese health officials are still in the process
of determining precisely what caused the outbreak.
CDC is in close communication with WHO and is working with its public
health partners to reinforce the need for strict adherence to applicable
biosafety precautions to reduce the risk of laboratory-related exposures
to SARS-CoV.
For More Information:
Archived News
Updated information on SARS is provided on CDC's SARS website.
Travel information is provided on CDC's Travelers' Health website.
|