Skip to main content
CNN International EditionWorld
The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SARS figures offer China hope

Beijing
Health workers in full protective suits get a body temperature check before entering a housing area under quarantine in Beijing.

Story Tools

more video VIDEO
A 9-year-old Beijing girl is using a Web site to help the fight against SARS.
premium content

China's economic growth is suffering under the threat of SARS.
premium content

Taiwan reports a sharp increase in SARS cases.
premium content

To mask or not to mask? Medical experts disagree.
premium content
HEALTH LIBRARY
Mayo Clinic

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China has reported it lowest daily increase in new SARS cases in weeks, amid government claims it has seen the worst of the disease.

The number of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome in China rose by 55 to 5,124. Beijing accounted for 39 of the new cases, continuing its decline in fresh cases.

China's Health Ministry reported five new fatalities, all in Beijing, raising the death toll on the mainland to 267.

But experts at the World Health Organization remain unconvinced, saying it is too early to claim the virus has been contained in China.

While there are encouraging signs, WHO China official Keiji Fukuda said there are new reports in Beijing of people contracting the disease without any known contact with SARS patients.

The cautious approach by the WHO follows comments by Beijing city officials that "effective measures" taken in recent days were behind a drop in cases in the capital. ('Under control')

While Beijing still has 10,000 people in quarantine -- down from a peak of 16,000 last week -- the greatest threat to the country remains the risk of SARS spreading through the impoverished countryside, where health services are weak and the logistics of tracking the virus are overwhelming.

Worldwide, more than 7,600 cases and 588 deaths have been recorded.

In Hong Kong, where the impact of SARS has been subsiding, two more deaths and nine new cases of the disease were reported Wednesday. New cases in the territory have been in the single digits for 11 straight days.

In contrast, the WHO has been critical of Taiwan, where the number of cases has risen dramatically in the past week.

The number of SARS cases on the island shot up by 23 Tuesday and a further 10 Wednesday, bringing the total to 238 cases and 31 deaths.

"By and large, everybody has now learned how to control their hospital environment, but mistakes are possibly still happening in Taiwan," WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley said.

Police in Taiwan Wednesday went house-to-house enforcing SARS quarantines.

Nigerian death

Also cause for concern to health officials was the reporting of the first suspected SARS death in Africa. Nigerian authorities are on alert after the death of a visiting Taiwan businessman.

Though SARS is suspected, it has not been confirmed as the cause of the death.

Health officials in Nigeria have begun screening visitors for signs of SARS after the man, who died February 28, had been in contact with about 30 Nigerians in Kano and Lagos, the country's largest city.

All were placed under surveillance, and six developed "flu-like symptoms" but fully recovered, Nigerian Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu told The Associated Press.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, with more than 126 million people. Experts fear the world's poorest continent -- with dire health care and millions weakened by AIDS -- would be unable to cope with SARS.

According to the WHO, South Africa has been the only nation on the continent to have a confirmed SARS case. The sole patient is now listed as recovered by the WHO.

Meanwhile in Greece, health officials said Wednesday that new tests on the country's first SARS suspect showed the South African flight attendant probably does not have the virus, Reuters reported.

They said doctors need to carry out further test on the 23-year-old woman, an employee of Emirates Airlines who had travelled to Greece from Hong Kong.

Doctors said it would take at least 10 days to provide a final diagnosis.

In other developments:

•  Beijing says its SARS-related economic losses were estimated at 450 million yuan ($54 million) in the first four months of this year, with arrivals of foreign visitors down about 60 percent.

• Singapore reported a possible outbreak of SARS at its biggest mental hospital, threatening to derail prospects of the WHO declaring the country SARS-free.

• The Ukrainian government has banned travel to countries hardest hit by SARS and instructed officials to deny entry to citizens from those countries.

• Researchers in Germany say they have found a weakness in the virus and that a drug being tested against the common cold could be modified to battle SARS. Such a drug could be designed in a matter of months, they said.


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Iran poll to go to run-off
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure
 
 
 
 

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.