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Official: Mystery Pneumonia in Southern China Killed 31 by End of FebruaryBEIJING (AP) - A mysterious form of pneumonia has killed 31 people in China's southern province of Guangdong through the end of February, a local government spokeswoman said Wednesday. Health experts say it isn't clear whether the deaths are linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, a fatal respiratory illness that has spread to three continents. In Guangdong, 24 people died in the provincial capital of Guangzhou and seven were elsewhere in the province, said the spokeswoman for the Guangzhou city government. She would give only her surname,...

Ninth person dies of mystery disease as WHO warns world heath threat spread by air travel By MARGIE MASON HANOI, Vietnam (AP): A ninth person has died of a mystery form of pneumonia that the World Health Organization says cannot be stopped by standard drugs and is being spread across the globe by international air travelers. In a rare emergency warning, Geneva-based WHO described the fast-acting, highly contagious disease as "a worldwide health threat.'' It first struck China's southern Guangdong province in January when five people died. In recent days about 150 infections had been reported in Asia, Europe and...

Deadly Flu Outbreak: Is History Repeating Itself?An out-of-control outbreak of influenza which has killed as many as 700 people and felled almost 23,000 victims is ravaging Madagascar and health authorities fear that if the disease is not confined to the huge island it could spread around the world. Madagascar which is larger than France and has a population of 16 million people is located off southeast Africa. World Health Organization (WHO) officials have said that samples taken from victims of the illness have shown it to be Type A influenza, a strain of flu believed to have devastated the world...