Posted on 05/03/2003 10:04:25 AM PDT by Dog Gone
HONG KONG, May 3 (Reuters) - A chemical tanker with 10 of its 24-member crew suspected of having contracted SARS has sought urgent permission to anchor in Hong Kong for medical help, a senior government official said on Saturday.
Hong Kong's government gave the go-ahead and the Malaysian-flagged tanker Bunga Melawis Satu was expected to be in Hong Kong waters on Sunday morning, Health Director Margaret Chan told a news conference.
The vessel left Thailand on April 28, and 10 of its 24 crews -- all reported to be of Indian origin -- were ill with fever, coughs and bodyaches, which are among the flu-like symptoms of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Chan said one of them was seriously sick.
"The shipmaster suspects that his crew might have contracted SARS, but of course the symptoms are also found in other infectious diseases. At this stage, we cannot make any judgment based on the information at hand," Chan said.
Hong Kong officials had no other details. They did not know how or where the sick crew members contracted their illnesses.
The vessel is now in international waters and estimated to be more than 100 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong, a government source said.
It will dock in Hong Kong waters around 8 a.m. on Sunday (midnight GMT Saturday) and doctors from the territory will board the tanker to check if the 10 sick crews may have contracted SARS.
"Those who are suspected of having SARS will be brought on land to hospital, and those who are fine will be quarantined on board the ship," a Health Department spokesman told Reuters.
The ship, which had been in Singapore and a few other places before leaving Thailand, was originally bound for the southern Chinese port of Guangzhou on mainland China, he added.
SARS is caused by a new, rapidly-mutating member of the corona family of viruses and the disease has been brought around the globe by air travellers over the last two months. Corona viruses are behind the common cold.
More than 6,500 people from some 30 countries have contracted the disease and 436 of them have died since it first emerged in southern China in November.
Especially if, as the article suggests, the immunity is not hereditary, but a result of exposure to some (relatively harmless) disease. It suggests that the equivalent of a cowpox can be found for SARS.
SARS Mortality Rates [reflects treatment] Based on World Health Organization daily tables (Revised: 5/04am) |
|||||||
Area | Recoveries to date | Deaths to date | Recent** Death Rate | Active Cases still in Danger | Projected Future Deaths | Projected Cumulative Mortality | |
Hong Kong | 898 | 179 | 17.9% | 544 | 97 | 17.0% | |
Singapore | 147 | 25 | 16.0% | 31 | 5 | 14.8% | |
China | 1406 | 190 | 36.0% | 2375 | 854 | 26.3% | |
Canada | 94 | 22 | 19.0% | 33 | 6 | 18.8% | |
elsewhere [26 countries] |
157 | 19 | 17.4% | 114 | 20 | 13.4% | |
World-wide [all 30 countries] |
2702 | 435 | 3097 | 982 | 22.7% | ||
** ( Deaths in the last 7 days) / ( Deaths + Recoveries in the last 7 days) |
Trend - Active Cases Still in Danger [reflects containment] | |||||||
Date | Hong Kong | Singapore | China | Canada | elsewhere 26 countries |
World-wide all 30 countries |
|
Apr 19 | 914 | 61 | 307 | 62 | 1616 | ||
Apr 20 | 893 | 64 | 497 | 65 | 1694 | ||
Apr 21 (est.) | 872 | 66 | 686 | 66 | 1771 | ||
Apr 22 | 874 | 60 | 708 | 61 | 80 | 1783 | |
Apr 23 | 831 | 58 | 968 | 62 | 86 | 2005 | |
Apr 24 | 812 | 55 | 1058 | 58 | 76 | 2059 | |
Apr 25 | 781 | 50 | 1209 | 51 | 78 | 2169 | |
Apr 26 | 774 | 51 | 1346 | 47 | 86 | 2304 | |
Apr 27 (est.) | 738 | 45 | 1415 | 47 | 98 | 2336 | |
Apr 28 | 709 | 39 | 1484 | 47 | 108 | 2387 | |
Apr 29 | 663 | 38 | 1833 | 40 | 108 | 2682 | |
Apr 30 | 641 | 38 | 1969 | 41 | 132 | 2821 | |
May 1 | 604 | 33 | 2117 | 40 | 117 | 2911 | |
May 2 | 563 | 32 | 2246 | 34 | 119 | 2994 | |
May 3 | 544 | 31 | 2375 | 33 | 114 | 3097 | |
(includes new daily cases... excludes cases resolved by death or recovery) |
Why do you think we're not hearing/seeing these percentage numbers in the mainline press?
my opinion- partly denial, partly numerical handicaps in the press
Thanks.
Now, does anyone know what became of the anthrax ship that was quarantined off the coast of Canada. The one where the first mate died in (I think) Brazil?
I still say if I got this disease I would have my wife hunt for a doctor that would give me GH until I reached the levels of a 3 year old!
So much for the internet rumor that indians were immune to SARS.
... but MOSTLY due to lack of hard science on this disease and the controlled studies that could determine if under-reporting on the spread of this disease would, in actuality, water down those mortality stats ...
Thanks.
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