Posted on 05/13/2003 4:50:35 PM PDT by blam
Sars spreads to China's army
By Richard Spencer in Beijing
(Filed: 14/05/2003)
Sars has struck China's three million-strong military, the World Health Organisation said yesterday - just as the number of cases in the country appeared to be heading downwards.
The number of new Sars patients in China was less than 100 yesterday, and the number of cases in Beijing less than 50 for the fourth day running. Ten people died, bringing the total to 262 in China.
But the government's promises of new openness in its "war on Sars" came into renewed question when it was left to a WHO adviser to disclose that he had discovered the outbreak in the People's Liberation Army.
Eight per cent of Beijing's 2,000 cases - about 150 to 160 people - were military personnel, Philippe Barboza said.
He added that the full significance of the finding could not be judged, as he had been given no details of the patients. "The records do not say who they are, where they caught the disease, even often their sex," he said.
Living conditions in the armed forces make an ideal breeding ground for the Sars virus, which has most commonly been passed on by close personal contact. The PLA's traditional secretiveness makes it unlikely that the WHO will be allowed to inspect facilities and monitor the epidemic in the military.
WHO officials said yesterday they were impressed with the efforts made to contain the disease in the province around Beijing - Hebei - the first rural area inspected.
They will reveal as little as they think they can get away with, at least until the news is good.
The number of new Sars patients in China was less than 100 yesterday, and the number of cases in Beijing less than 50 for the fourth day running. Ten people died, bringing the total to 262 in China.
So the number of new Sars cases is less, good.
But the government's promises of new openness in its "war on Sars" came into renewed question when it was left to a WHO adviser to disclose that he had discovered the outbreak in the People's Liberation Army.
Now Sars is reported in the huge Chinese Army.
Eight per cent of Beijing's 2,000 cases - about 150 to 160 people - were military personnel, Philippe Barboza said.
But the Army's cases were at least part of Beijing's outbreak of Sars, so are there any cases in the huge Chinese military outside of the ones now reported in Beijing? The headline reads, "SARS Spreads To China's Army."
One situation could be controlled, the other would be widespread throughout the country. Clarification is needed.
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