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CDC extends SARS travel advisory
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday extended its travel advisory for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome to include all of mainland China as well as Hanoi, Vietnam and Singapore. The CDC urged that anyone planning non-essential travel to mainland China and Hong Kong; Singapore; and Hanoi, Vietnam "may wish to postpone their trips until further notice." The CDC has been working closely with the World Health Organization to investigate the emergence of SARS, a deadly flu-like disease. Though a number of cases have been reported in Canada, the "CDC is not advising against travel to or from Canada because there is not evidence of widespread community transmission" there, the agency said in a statement. Earlier, CDC officials said that 51 suspected cases of SARS have been identified in the United States. Worldwide, a total of 1,550 cases and 54 deaths have been reported from 13 countries as of Saturday, according to the WHO. Hong Kong is the world's most severely affected area, with 58 new cases of SARS reported on Friday alone, according to The Associated Press. (Full story). CDC officials are meeting planes, cargo ships and cruise ships coming either directly or indirectly to the United States from China, Singapore and Vietnam and distributing health alert cards to disembarking passengers. The CDC will distribute approximately 25,000 health alert notices daily to people returning from the affected regions at more than 20 ports of entry. Officials are also assessing passengers returning from those areas for SARS symptoms, which include: • A temperature of greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38.0 degrees Celsius) • Signs of respiratory illness, including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty in breathing, hypoxia (deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues of the body), and X-rays indicating the presence of pneumonia. U.S. medical researchers say evidence is mounting that the cause of the illness is a previously unrecognized form of a virus related to the common cold. (Full story) The CDC also issued recommendations to prevent transmission of the illness from people suspected of having the disease to their family members and other close contacts. These include limited exposure to the public and wearing surgical masks to prevent the spread of germs. The CDC said it is not clear how long a patient may be contagious. The recommendations were released the same day that Dr. Carlo Urbani, an expert on communicable diseases who was the first WHO officer to identify the outbreak in Vietnam, died of SARS. (Full story) Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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