Vietnam has declared a nationwide Sars alert in an effort to protect the country from the disease following a case being discovered in Singapore.
With the advent of the winter ‘flu season not far away, officials in Vietnam have alerted authorities in 61 cities around the country. Immigration officials have also been told to step up their efforts and to check all travellers entering the country for fever; anyone displaying symptoms of Sars will be quarantined. Sixty-three people in Vietnam were infected with Sars earlier this year, five died from the disease.
According to the Vietnam-based news website VOV, at http://www.vov.org.vn/2003_09_10/english/xahoi.htm, the Ho Chi Minh City Health Service made the following statement: “The HCM City Health Service has announced the resumption of the National Sars Prevention and Control Committee’s operation following the detection of a new Sars case in Singapore. All tourists arriving at either Tan Son Nhat airport or seaports will undergo a medical check. The city hospital of tropical diseases will receive any one suspected of carrying Sars.”
In a separate development, a woman was yesterday admitted to a Hong Kong hospital with a suspected case of the disease, but Sars was ruled out after tests.
As reported, the World Health Organisation has recently warned that the disease could be a seasonal disease and might reappear this winter, but the WHO has not yet commented on the Vietnam alert.
