- BEIJING (Reuters) - The World
Health Organization said China, epicenter of a flu-like virus that has
killed about 160 people worldwide, had failed to report all its cases and
the capital, Beijing, could have five times the official number.
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- The virus, which is new to science and has no known cure,
has been carried by air travelers to around 22 countries in the past six
weeks, infecting over 3,400 people.
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- Hong Kong, the second most affected area after mainland
China, reported five more deaths from the virus on Wednesday.
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- "Indeed there have been cases of SARS -- there is
no question about that -- that have also not been reported officially,"
German WHO virologist Wolfgang Preiser said after a visit to a military
hospital in Beijing.
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- "The military seems to have its own reporting system
which does not link in presently with the municipal one," he told
a news conference on Wednesday.
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- WHO officials called for full disclosure from the country
where Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) first appeared in November
and which has been criticized widely for not sharing information with the
rest of the world soon enough.
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- Officials were asked how many cases Beijing really had.
"I would guess the range would be between 100 and 200," WHO official
Alan Schnur replied. Only thirty-seven cases have been officially reported
in Beijing.
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- A team of WHO virologists and epidemiologists were allowed
to visit two military hospitals in Beijing -- days after asking for permission
-- as the government responded to pressure.
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- SARS has killed at least 65 people and infected 1,445
in mainland China -- nearly half of the world's cases -- since it first
surfaced in the southern province of Guangdong.
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- SINGAPORE TEST
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- In a sign some progress was being made in the fight against
the illness, Singapore said it hopes to have a diagnostic test ready in
a week following 12 deaths from SARS in the tiny island nation in less
than a month.
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- But scientists in Hong Kong said they may have detected
a more virulent form of the virus in the densely populated city where the
disease has killed 61 people and infected 1,268.
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- Key data to help explain SARS may emerge from China in
three to four weeks, due to the new openness of officials, said Dr David
Heymann, head of the WHO's contagious diseases unit.
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- "What's the future of this disease?" he said
in New York. "We won't know until we see what's going on in China.
Everything hinges on what we find out in China."
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- Scientists have been working feverishly on diagnostic
tests for SARS, after mapping the genetic sequence of the virus.
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- The state-run Genome Institute of Singapore said its
new test would take three hours and may be sensitive enough to detect the
virus in its early stages before a person develops SARS symptoms such as
high fever and a dry cough.
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- "We need to find the kit, get it tested, validated
and then applied for general use. We will put out the kits on Friday,"
Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said in a news conference.
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- To help detect SARS cases, Wong said Singapore started
to use a thermal imaging system at its Changi airport on Friday for passengers
arriving on flights from China and Hong Kong.
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- A passenger stands in front of the system, developed
by Singapore Technologies, to have his temperature checked, the minister
said.
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- On Monday, a German company, Hamburg-based Artus GmbH,
said it was distributing a quick "real-time" test that can detect
the virus by looking for its genetic signature.
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