Posted on 04/27/2003 11:13:14 PM PDT by chance33_98
SARS spreads to new countries
Australian health authorities have reported three probable cases of SARS, the killer flu-like virus sweeping Asia.
Three children visiting from Canada are ill with what appear be the country's first cases of the disease.
But Australia's chief medical officer, Richard Smallwood, said the children, who have been under investigation for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) since April 4, have fully recovered.
He added that the disease has not spread to other family members.
He said: "The diagnoses of the children is based on the fact that no other cause for their illness has been found."
Meanwhile, India's first SARS case has been confirmed in the state of Goa.
In China, the government has stuck to its tally of 37 SARS cases despite accusations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) it could have up to 200 cases of the illness.
Health officials, who have insisted Beijing's SARS figures included army hospitals, had no further comment after a team of WHO experts said military sites were not reporting SARS cases.
In the US, the SARS virus is proving to be yet another blow to the struggling airline industry.
Travel to Asia is down 35 per cent from a year ago and polls show passengers are worried regardless of their destination.
Health officials have been called to several US airports to screen sick passengers on flights arriving from Asia.
The SARS bug is caused by a form of the common cold virus never before seen in humans, WHO announced yesterday.
It said 3,235 people in 22 countries had been struck down by SARS and 154 have died.
Since news of the first cases broke, experts have been trying to identify the cause of the bug, which can produce a severe pneumonia-type illness.
Last week, leading medical journal The Lancet suggested that a new kind of coronavirus was the chief suspect for SARS.
WHO has confirmed that SARS is caused by a member of the coronavirus family which has not been seen before in humans.
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