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SARS under control, says WHO
The World Health Organisation has declared the global epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) officially contained, with no new cases reported since 15 June.
But it warns that the disease could still pose a threat.
“Based on country surveillance reports, the human chains of SARS transmission appear to have been broken everywhere in the world,” said the WHO announcement. “We do not mark the end of SARS today, but we observe a milestone: the global SARS outbreak has been contained,” Gro Harlem Bruntland, director-general added.
The WHO announcement was made as Taiwan, the last SARS-affected area, was removed from the UN agency’s list, after no new cases were found for 20 days, a period believed to be twice the disease’s incubation period. But in Taiwan, where nearly 700 cases and 24 deaths were reported during the last three months, officials said the country would remain on alert for a recurrence of the illness.
The disease has infected 8,349 people in 30 countries on five continents, and has killed 812 people, and nearly 200 people with SARS are still being treated in strict isolation around the world.
With the WHO news came announcements from two American airlines of restored flights to Asia. United Airlines, currently operating under bankruptcy protection, said last week that it was “reinstating certain Pacific flights,” including service between Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport, according to the International Herald Tribune.
And Northwest Airlines, the other major American carrier to Asia, has announced the restoration of wide-body jet services on some Asian routes where smaller aircraft had been used to reduce capacity and cut costs.
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