Rome (Fides) - To prevent a new epidemic of SARS more than 600 people in Beijing have been put in quarantine. In the capital two reported cases of SARS have been confirmed and five are still suspect. It is also thought that SARS caused the death on April 19 of the mother of one of the confirmed cases and that the mother probably infected the daughter.
All the cases, confirmed and suspect, have been traced to the laboratories of the Infective Disease Centre IDC in Beijing, one of the most advanced in the country, a leader in research for a vaccine against SARS. The Centre has been closed and the staff of 180 doctors and nurses are being tested for SARS. Moreover the Health Ministry has ordered inspections of all laboratories engaged in research on the SARS virus.
The director of the Beijing IDC Centre says that a new epidemic of SARS is unlikely. Last year’s tragic outbreak killed 193 people and infected more than 2,500 in the capital alone.
The cases confirmed this week are the first since last July when the World Health Organisation declared Beijing “free of SARS”. A WHO spokesman said the present situation in the capital is “not a threat to public health”>
SARS, Sudden acute respiratory syndrome, first appeared last year in the southern Chinese region of Guandong spreading to 30 countries infecting 8.000 people and killing 800, mostly in China. (AP) (27/4/2004 Agenzia Fides; Righe:27; Parole:300)