Another 18 die in China and Hong Kong * The Sars virus remains in patients who have recovered

Avi Blizovsky

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18 people died today (Saturday) from the atypical pneumonia (SARS), nine of them in China and another nine in Hong Kong. This is what the health authorities in both countries reported today. Another 181 patients with the disease were counted in China, and ten in Hong Kong. Five of the dead are from the Chinese capital Beijing, the most severe focus of the disease in the world today.

Researchers in Hong Kong say that the number of deaths from SARS increased fivefold in April compared to March. The researchers even say that the virus quickly develops mutations, which will make it difficult to develop a vaccine for the disease. Dr. Dennis Lu from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that at the end of March there were two types of the virus in Hong Kong. He noted, however, that much work is still needed to determine whether the virus is becoming more lethal. The Minister of Health of Hong Kong admitted today in a radio interview that Hong Kong did not react quickly enough to the outbreak of the disease, but attributed this to a lack of knowledge about the disease when it began to break out.
China announced today for the first time that it authorizes the World Health Organization to send experts to Taiwan to assess the scope and severity of the SARS outbreak there. China claims that the island is part of China and is not independent, and so far has not allowed the organization's representatives to reach it.

Singapore announced today that it is making consistent progress in its fight to reduce the spread of SARS. According to a minister in the Singapore government who was appointed head of a special team to fight the disease, most of the patients receive comprehensive treatment, and for 19 days not a single hospital employee has been infected with the disease. In Singapore, a law was passed that prohibits visiting SARS patients who are hospitalized. As part of the strict enforcement of the country's quarantine instructions, a Singapore citizen, Chua Hock Seng, who came out of quarantine yesterday, was prosecuted today. Sang entered a cafe and showed those present the quarantine order that had applied to him, thereby creating a great panic.

Canada, the main victim of SARS outside of Asia, announced yesterday that it will allocate 100 million Canadian dollars ($70 million) in the coming year to a special budget for the fight against SARS. The budget includes items for drug research and development, but also financial aid for those affected by the sharp drop in tourism in the country due to the outbreak. Among other things, an advertising plan was prepared to attract tourists to the country on the grounds that it is not dangerous. The plan will be published as soon as the rate of spread of the disease in the country does decrease.

Health officials in Hong Kong reported that many SARS patients who appeared to have recovered from the disease carried the disease virus in their bodies when they were released from the hospital, and may have spread the disease. The health system in the country said that 12 patients, who seemed to have recovered, got sick again after being released from the hospital.

Hong Kong reported yesterday, May 2, eight more people who died of the disease, and 11 who were infected. China reported another 11 people who died from the disease, and 176 people who were infected. So far, 170 people have died in China and about 3,630 have been infected. About 11 thousand people in the country are kept in isolation.

Health officials in Canada announced yesterday that two new cases of pneumonia were discovered in Toronto. This, after no cases of the disease were detected in the city for 11 days and after the warning issued by the World Health Organization against traveling to the city was lifted.

Health Organization: No patients in India

Advertisement Scientists from Canada and the United States have mapped the DNA sequence of the SARS virus. Their findings were published yesterday in the journal "Science". Scientists from the United States examined a DNA sequence from another version of the virus, known as the "Urbani strain". Publishing the genome of the virus may help research to find a cure for the disease and develop a vaccine against it. The editor of the journal, Don Kennedy, said that "the two research teams produced these genome sequences quickly and efficiently, in collaboration between several groups." The DNA sequences were sent to scientists online as early as April 15, but only now have teams examined it.

The World Health Organization announced yesterday that in the tests it carried out, it became clear that no SARS cases were detected in India. The symptoms of the disease were not detected in the patients with pneumonia in the disease, who feared that they had SARS.

A young man who returned five days ago from Toronto was hospitalized in Israel yesterday, fearing that he had contracted Sars. The young man was admitted to Assaf Harofeh Hospital for precautionary reasons only, since even though he suffers from a fever and cough, the X-ray of his lungs is normal.
Yadan who follows the developments in the Sars epidemic