USCBC SARS Bulletin, 3/31/03
Date: March 31, 2003
To: USCBC Members
From: Robert Kapp
RE: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
Council members will be aware that a serious contagious disease has emerged
in Asia, with the highest case incidences so far in Hong Kong and adjacent
Guangdong Province, China. The global health community is racing to identify
the biology of the disease and its epidemiology -- the manner and trajectory
of its transmission.
The disease is being called "SARS" - Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
Description of the symptoms, involving initial fever, followed within
a few days by dry coughing and in severe cases by difficulty in breathing,
can be found on the websites listed below.
There is already an emergent scientific consensus that this is a new disease,
previously unknown. Its origins appear to have been in South China. Scientists
are working vigorously, and apparently making rapid progress, on identification
of the organism that causes the disease. If, as seems likely, the organism
is a virus, its discovery may help in early diagnosis of the disease,
but antibiotic drugs would likely not be effective, and development of
appropriate antiviral drugs or vaccines could take an indeterminate amount
of time.
While much remains unclear about SARS, information is accumulating not
only in news stories, but on the web sites of key health organizations,
most notably the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
We strongly encourage members to familiarize themselves with the information
accumulating daily and even hourly on these sites.
The starting URL for World Health Organization SARS information is http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/
Be sure you click on the many links found there.
The starting point for CDC SARS information is http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/
Again, be sure to pursue the many links that start there.
CDC has a "SARS Frequently Asked Questions" site http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/faq.htm
AS OF MARCH 31, THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ADVISORY DEFINEs THE AFFECTED
AREAS AS BEIJING, GUANGDONG, HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION,
SHANXI, AND TAIWAN IN THE GREATER CHINA AREA; HANOI, VIETNAM; SINGAPORE;
AND TORONTO, CANADA.
WHO defines affected area as an area in which local chain(s) of transmission
of SARS is/are occurring as reported by the national public health authorities.
THE CDC'S INTERIM TRAVEL ADVISORY, DATED MARCH 28, COVERS THE SAME AREAS
AS THE WHO ADVISORY, BUT EXTENDS THE ADVISORY TO ALL OF MAINLAND CHINA.
CASES HAVE ALSO EMERGED IN A NUMBER OF OTHER COUNTRIES, INCLUDING THE
UNITED STATES.
MEMBER COMPANIES SHOULD WATCH THE ABOVE WEBSITES FOR CHANGES IN THE LIST
OF AFFECTED AREAS.
CDC advises that people planning elective or non-essential travel to mainland
China and Hong Kong; Singapore; and Hanoi, Vietnam may wish to postpone
their trips until further notice.
The WHO has called on airlines in affected areas to conduct screenings
of outbound international passengers. Hong Kong is now said to be setting
up such screening, in an effort to identify those who might have been
exposed. We will await word as to whether China embarks on something similar,
if it is called upon to do so.
Public health specialists inform the Council that while screening at point
of departure is the preferred method, in the absence of such measures
governments are establishing screening of ARRIVING passengers who have
previously been in affected areas. CDC reports that its officials are
meeting planes, cargo ships and cruise ships coming either directly or
indirectly to the United States from China, Singapore and Vietnam and
distributing health alert cards (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/travel_alert.htm)
to disembarking passengers.
BACKGROUND
The scientific community has reached early conclusions that the disease
is spread by close contact with an individual suffering from it, for example
by contact with droplets or particles expelled by coughing or sneezing
by infected individuals. Isolation of afflicted patients, and increasingly
isolation of those considered likely to have been exposed, is indicated,
and in both Singapore and Hong Kong have expanded mandatory confinements
to residences.
Whether the risk of contagion is heightened in the confined space of airplanes
is not yet clear, though there has been at least one instance in which
multiple cases appear to have arisen among passengers on a single flight.
CDC has a web page devoted to advice to airline cabin crew and airliner
cleanup crews; the page can be reached from the CDC site shown above.
A number of specialists have pointed out that careful cleaning of the
hands is a critically important step in preventing contagion, and have
recommended frequent use of alcohol-bearing wipes, germicidal hand lotions,
and/or frequent washing with soap and hot water. The covering of the mouth
and nose of anyone experiencing symptoms of the disease, especially when
coughing or sneezing, is regarded as extremely important.
The Council will update information on SARS as developments occur. A quick
way to find literally hundreds of news reports, from all over the world,
is to go to www.google.com, select
"News" from the options at the top, and then either write "SARS" into
the search box or click on a hyperlink relating to SARS if available.
News reports, however, are of uncertain reliability, and at best draw
mainly on the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control
information referred to above.
Bob Kapp
Robert A. Kapp
President
The US-China Business Council
1818 N St., N.W., Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036
T 202/429-0340, x. 206
F 202/775-2476
E BKapp@uschina.org
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Last Updated: 10-Apr-2003