Another SARS Break-out in China

The first suspected SARS case has broken out in China, and neighboring Asian countries including Japan, Taiwan, Macao and Hong Kong have raised an emergency alarm.

On December 27 a spokesperson for the Chinese sanitation authorities said that a patient suspected of SARS had been found in Gwangzhou, and the patient is under medical treatment at a certain quarantined area. He added that the patient is in stable condition.

The patient was confirmed as Ruo, 32, a freelance television producer, who lives in Gwangzhou. He began showing symptoms of fever and headache, and was taken to the Chungsan University hospital on December 20. He was verified to have been infected with pneumonia, being quarantined on December 8 at Renmin Hospital in Gwangzhou.

It has been seven months since the World Trade Organization has lifted the SARS infected zone from Gwangzhou on May 23. Rou has asserted that he had not been overseas recently and did not have any contact with wild animals within the last month. Chinese sanitation authorities have disclosed that no strange symptoms have been found from his family members or the people who have had contact with Rou.

In response to past incidents of concealing SARS outbreaks, China immediately dispatched an expert group to inspect the virus on the spot and reported the incident to the WTO and the sanitation officials in Hong Kong and Macao.

Beijing started the 24-hour emergency surveillance system, and ordered hospitals to increase the rate of inspection on people from Gwangzhou if the person has a fever.

With the first SARS outbreaks on December 17 and another suspected case appearing in China, Taiwan has also decided to carry out the body temperature check at the airport targeting travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macao. As for the first day of 2004 and the first day on the lunar calendar, January 22, the Taiwanese government has been on special lookouts in order to prevent the large exchange of people between China during the holiday season from diffusing the virus all over the region.

Hong Kong, located next to Gwangzhou and with many people traveling between the two areas, has dispatched medical teams at critical areas such as the airports and seaports, implementing the minute inspection system at last. The sanitation authorities said that anybody who passed through the Gwangdung-Hong Kong junction points should hand in his or her health report.

Yoo-Sung Hwang Hun-Joo Cho yshwang@donga.com hanscho@donga.com