Given Canadas success in that state of disorganization it is surprising that Canada has been able to contain this disease and in fact they seem to be gaining ground rapidly. In my mind it underscores how incredibily incompetent the Chinese health structure would appear to be.
Heavy-handed measures control SARS, CDC head says
Reuters, 05.06.03, 5:24 PM ET
By Maggie Fox, Health and
Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Seemingly heavy-handed measures
to control the epidemic of SARS,
such as forced quarantines and
travel restrictions, are working,
U.S. CDC Director Dr. Julie
Gerberding said Tuesday.
Just one person slipping through the
net, she said, can infect many others
with Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome, which has infected
7,000 people worldwide and killed
479.
Canada, which seems to have its
own epidemic under control after
23 deaths and at least 264 cases in
Toronto alone, offered good
examples on how to contain the
spread of disease by isolating
suspected patients quickly and
asking people who had been in
contact with them to quarantine
themselves.
"One of the specific lessons that I
learned in Canada was that if you
are going to take steps like that,
you have to be bold, you have to
do it quickly, you have to do it
aggressively," Gerberding told a
telephone briefing.
"There is not a lot of time for
committee meetings. You have got
to get it done."
There are 65 "probable" U.S. SARS cases -- meaning the patient has pneumonia and has
traveled to a SARS-affected area -- and 255 suspected cases in which pneumonia has not
developed.
Only in two cases has a traveler infected someone else in the United States, said Gerberding
-- both more than 20 days ago.
CDC LIFTS TRAVEL WARNING FOR SINGAPORE
The CDC lifted its travel advisory for Singapore, saying the island nation had also gained
control of the virus. China and its territory of Hong Kong, as well as Taiwan, remain on the
list of places Americans are urged to avoid if possible.
In China, officials have quarantined nearly 20,000 people and were sending teams to hunt
down possible SARS patients. Villagers in some areas rioted when they learned people
exposed to possible SARS patients were being quarantined nearby.
"They are stepping up to the plate and very aggressively working to isolate affected people.
We will work with them in all manner of ways to support their efforts," Gerberding said.
"As we saw in Taiwan, just a single infected person who is not picked up by the public health
system can set off a cascade of infections with severe consequences for the community."
The University of California Berkeley said it would not accept students from SARS-affected
countries for the summer session. Gerberding, who met with university officials, said they
needed time to get into place measures that would protect all students.
Gerberding said the United States remained prepared to do more. "The public health
response in our country has been measured in direct proportion to the problem that we have
here," she said. "If additional steps are necessary we are prepared to take those steps."
Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University's Law School, said current public
health laws in the United States are not adequate to handle an outbreak of SARS.
Last month President Bush added SARS to a list of diseases that can justify forced
quarantines if necessary, but Gostin said the federal law is probably unconstitutional and does
not answer questions such as where people would be quarantined or how they would be
cared for.
"Public health commissioners would probably delay or be indecisive because they are not
sure what their powers are," Gostin said.
Local laws are even more confusing, he said -- although a task force is working on a model
law for states to adopt to fill in the gaps. "There are gaps and we are working to fill them,"
Gerberding said. "I think SARS will motivate a speeding up of the process."
Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service |
