Posted on 08/24/2003 5:02:06 PM PDT by Prince Charles
Rats could have been cause of Sars outbreak
Latest research into the spread of the virus at a Hong Kong apartment complex overturns previous ideas. Ien Cheng reports
Published: August 24 2003 18:24 | Last Updated: August 24 2003 18:24
The World Health Organisation is studying new research that points to rattus rattus - the common black rat - as a key agent in the massive spread of Sars at Amoy Gardens, the Hong Kong apartment complex where 329 people contracted the deadly virus earlier this year.
The research by Dr Stephen Ng, published this month in The Lancet, the respected British medical journal, contradicts the official WHO account of the Amoy Gardens outbreak, which blames exhaust fans and plumbing.
Dr Ng further suggested last week that rats - which are eaten as a delicacy in southern China - could be the ultimate source of the disease, which killed 916 people worldwide, about one third of them in Hong Kong.
The findings highlight the unresolved questions over the cause of the Amoy Gardens infections, the largest single outbreak of the disease.
The debate over the issue in Hong Kong also reflects public concern about the city's handling of the original outbreak and its vulnerability to a fresh bout during the winter flu season.
Early speculation that cockroaches helped spread the disease in Amoy Gardens was quelled by WHO and government investigations, which pointed to an unusual combination of plumbing and ventilation conditions as the cause of the virus' rapid spread.
"The rats theory hasn't been a major player. It would be huge progress if rats were proven to be the animal reservoir," said Maria Cheng, WHO spokesperson in Beijing.
However, she said there were significant weaknesses in Dr Ng's research and that further investigation was necessary.
Researchers believe Sars originated in wild animals and that these would be the likely source of any new outbreak.
Evidence points to the civet cat, a member of the mongoose family, that is also enjoyed as a delicacy in southern China, but no species has been conclusively identified.
An international team of experts last week criticised a decision by China last month to lift a ban on the trade in civet cats and other wild animals.
"The fight against Sars is not over. Finding its origin will most likely take years," said Dr Pierre Formenty, a WHO specialist and joint leader of the team that spent a week doing fi eld research in China's Guangdong province.
The scientific debate came as an expert committee appointed by Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's chief executive, to review his administration's handling of the Sars crisis said it would release its report on October 2.
The body sought to counter claims that it lacks independence by promising to release the full findings to the public and the government simultaneously.
Controversy over the independence of the committee and the government's record on Sars has added to the unpopularity of Mr Tung, who last month faced mass protests over his handling of a security law.
WHO officials publicly praise the Hong Kong government for its handling of the crisis.
But they also stress the need for medical authorities to learn quickly the lessons of the epidemic, which was first identified in February and infected 8,422 people worldwide before fading out in early July.
The Hong Kong administration has installed high-tech fever sensing equipment at the border crossings and is planning a regional disease response centre based on the US Centers for Disease Control.
Hospitals are building new isolation wards and medical staff are being trained in disease-control techniques, according to Dr Joseph Sung, chief of medical service at the Prince of Wal es Hospital.
"Before Sars, most hospitals were overcrowded and there was not much experience of barrier nursing," he said, referring to the disciplined use of masks and gloves when dealing with inf ectious patients.
But a fast and reliable diagnostic test for Sars remains elusive - highlighted by a false alarm among nearly 150 Canadian nursing home residents and staff last week.
"There will be many false alarms during the flu season and unfortunately, without a rapid diagnostic test, Hong Kong authorities will [just] have to react as quickly as they can," said Ms Cheng of the WHO.
I still do.
It's going to be a fun winter and spring, I see.
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