HK- 'SARS-like' virus alert

'SARS-like' virus alert Mary Ann Benitez Tuesday, September 25, 2012 Authorities are on full alert for a new SARS-like threat that - like the virus that rocked and ravaged Hong Kong nine years ago - can cause severe illness and death.It has surfaced in the Middle East, and travelers who have been to Qatar or Saudi Arabia and return with pneumonia are being targeted for isolation and checks for signs of the virus. Concern has been sharpened by the fact that the Haj, the annual pilgrimage of hundreds of thousands to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, will be in full swing by the middle of October. The 2003 SARS epidemic killed 299 people in Hong Kong among 774 worldwide, though a top health official here believes anything on such a scale this time around is unlikely. Severe acute respiratory syndrome is caused by what is called a coronavirus, taking its name from its crown-like outer part. Such a virus causes the common cold, but a mutation can be horrific. The scare comes after a World Health Organization alert yesterday following a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection in a 49-year-old Qatari man who traveled to Saudi Arabia prior to falling sick on September 3. He was admitted to a Qatar hospital in critical condition on September 7 and then airlifted to a London hospital on September 11. He was last night in critical condition after renal failure. The Health Protection Agency UK said virus samples from the man were almost identical to those of a 60-year- old Saudi who died earlier this year. Samples of matter from his  lungs were sequenced by the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and reported earlier this month. The WHO is trying to determine the public health implications of the two cases and had not yet recommended travel restrictions. In Hong Kong, the controller of the Centre for Health Protection, Thomas Tsang Ho-fai, warned: "We need to step up surveillance [at] entry points ... to detect whether there is any trace of this coronavirus." But the new strain appears to have limited ability to spread between people. "This is a novel coronavirus," Tsang said. "We're not talking about the return of SARS." Tsang did send a message to doctors, however, saying that people who developed pneumonia from unexplained respiratory illnesses seven days after landing from travels must be reported. People suspected of carrying the virus must be under strict isolation in facilities where staff wear full protective gear, he added. And the Hospital Authority called a teleconference of all public hospital doctors yesterday on the virus. Still, Chinese University chair professor of respiratory medicine David Hui Shu-cheong said: "We need to wait for more information from WHO. We do not know exactly how infectious the disease is and whether this virus has the capacity to cause major outbreaks."  http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=126784&sid=37739567&con_type=3&d_str=20120925&fc=1