Sars hits Africa

News 24 (South Africa) ^ | 5-11-03

[Prince Charles]

Sars hits Africa 11/05/2003 12:02  - (SA)  

Lagos - The death of an Asian man, who had travelled from Taiwan to Nigeria and had been showing symptoms of the Sars virus, has become the first suspected Sars death in Africa.

The government of the west African country have reported his death to the World Health Organisation, said Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu on Saturday on State television.

"It is a suspected case. It has not yet been confirmed," said Nwosu.

The Asian man was showing symptoms of the highly infectious pneumonia-like virus and died later in a hospital.

WHO experts have dreaded the spread of the disease on the African continent as a lack of health facilities, a large population and poor living conditions would lead to the rapid spread of the virus.

With a population of about 120 million, Nigeria is Africa's most populous country. - Sapa-DPA

[Prince Charles]

Bump...

[aristeides]

Asian man. For all we know, black Africans will turn out to be as resistant to SARS as Indians have been.

[11B3]

As Indians have been reported to be. Their 'reporting' may be quite similar to the Chinese.

[Judith Anne]

Agreed. I don't think anyone's ethnicity or heredity will protect them from SARS. Sad to say.

[Wonder Warthog]

"Agreed. I don't think anyone's ethnicity or heredity will protect them from SARS. Sad to say."

Actually, anyone who gets SARS and survives is such a person. Inheriting an efficient immune system is as much a genetic trait as any other factor (wish I had one--I catch every virus that comes near me--if I'm ever exposed to SARS, I suspect I will be "pushing up privet hedge").

[Jim Noble]

No one has yet considered the possibility that, as SARS becomes endemic in East Asia and Africa that we will need to close our ports to arrivals from there, and prohibit travel to there.

That would pop a lot of balloons.

[Judith Anne]

Yes, and those rare resistant people who are not vulnerable to the virus will come from any and all ethnic groups, imho.

[tallhappy]

No one has yet considered the possibility that, as SARS becomes endemic in East Asia and Africa that we will need to close our ports to arrivals from there, and prohibit travel to there.

No one has considered it becaue it is a ludicrous idea.

[tallhappy]

For all we know, black Africans will turn out to be as resistant to SARS as Indians have been.

You need to work on differentiating actual science from nonsense like the above.

[aristeides]

I take it you did not see the fatality statistics for different ethnic groups in Singapore. They were on a thread here yesterday.

[tallhappy]

I take it you did not see the fatality statistics for different ethnic groups in Singapore.

That has nothing to do with resistance.

[myprecious]

we will need to close our ports to arrivals from there, and prohibit travel to there

The tower of Babel comes to my mind. We have placed our faith in universal trade, Now it may crumble and we may be scattered again. Our own people do not have fundamental manufactoring skills, infrastructure, or factories. We may have oursmarted ourselves with Just in Time Delivery.

I hope I am wrong, but the possibility is there....

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

With a number of people with already compromised immune systems this is the last thing Africa needs.

[Betty Jo]

Is SARS designed to be race specific?

Designed by whom?

What race would not be vulnerable?

Give me the stats on Arabs that have SARS!

Please, please.

[junta]

No if I read my egalitarian handbook it says we are all of "one blood" and exactly the same, meaning Africa is in deep doo doo.

[per loin]

Unless you've seen much more demographic data on the Singapore cases than I have, I don't see how you can draw race or gender specific conclusions yet. I saw nothing on the ages of the Chinese victims, as compared to the non-Chinese victims. Ditto for ages on male and female victims.

If the nursing core are primarily younger females of non Chinese ancestry, and the older victims were primarily Chinese, that would skew the figures.

[aristeides]

Well, by themselves the Singapore data might not indicate that much. But we also have the evidence of where SARS continues to spread, and where it has petered out.

[per loin]

I'm not sure where you have seen it "peter out". Hong Kong is down to single digits in new cases and may have it under control. But that, through heroic efforts, not a "petering out".

The only outbreak we have seen in a multi-ethnic society is the one in Toronto, and I've seen no ethnic breakdown on the victims. Have you?

[jerseygirl]

I agree. Aldso, it seems that having a robust immune system is detrimental...