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SARS Travel Warnings Expanded in China
<P>Taipei, Inner Mongolia, & Tianjin Added to Travel Advisory List </P>
May 8, 2003 -- Following weeks of triple-digit growth in the numbers of SARS cases reported in China, the World Health Organization (WHO) today expanded its travel advisory to include more regions within China and Taiwan. The WHO now recommends that people postpone all but essential travel to several areas of China, including Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Tianjin, Shanxi, and Taipei.
As of today, 4,698 probable cases of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and 224 deaths have been reported in mainland China alone since the outbreak began. Another 1,661 SARS cases have been reported in Hong Kong. Worldwide, a total of 7,053 probable SARS cases have been reported.
WHO first warned travelers to avoid Hong Kong and the neighboring Guangdong province of China on April 2 and later extended the warning to Beijing, and the Shanxi province of China. Travel advisories to Hanoi, Vietnam and Toronto, Canada have been lifted after officials determined the SARS outbreak was adequately contained there.
WHO officials say their travel advice is reassessed regularly and is based on the magnitude of the SARS outbreak in these regions (including the overall number of cases and the daily number of new cases), local transmission of the disease, and the potential for international spread of SARS beyond the countries' borders.
In addition, the CDC currently has SARS travel alerts for Toronto, Canada, Hanoi, Vietnam, and Singapore. These alerts advise travelers entering or departing a particular region about the potential risk of SARS exposure and recommend that travelers take practical steps to reduce that risk, such as avoiding areas where SARS transmission has occurred and practicing good hygiene.
Today the CDC also announced that it is making its first screening test for SARS available to state health departments. The ELISA test screens for antibodies the immune system produces in response to SARS virus infection.
CDC director Julie Gerberding, MD, says widespread availability of this test will allow officials to determine at day 21 of the course of SARS whether a suspected SARS patient has developed antibodies.
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