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Deaths as doctors identify bug
By CNN's Marianne Bray
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- As many as five people have died in Hong Kong from a mystery virus authorities now believe has mutated from a common childhood disease. While doctors would not identify the disease, they say the deadly respiratory illness sweeping through Asia and the world comes from a class of viruses known as paramyxovirus. This family of microbes causes measles, mumps and canine distemper, as well as several respiratory diseases in young children and a variety of mammals and birds. Hong Kong authorities unveiled their clue in solving the outbreak on Wednesday after Germany and Taiwan said they had pinpointed a similar virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been asked to verify the findings. A swathe of countries across the world -- among them Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Australia, Britain, Brunei, Spain and the United States -- have reported suspected cases of the disease. On Wednesday the mystery virus appeared to have jumped to China's capital Beijing, as well as to Japan, Romania, Belgium, Finland and France. So far 14 people have been killed by the virus, dubbed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and more than 500 have been infected. The WHO raised the alarm over the weekend, issuing a rare alert over the disease but stopping short of advising people against traveling. In their first global warning in 10 years, the WHO said they were worried about the "atypical" nature of the pneumonia, which appeared resistant to antiviral drugs and antibiotics. The illness is believed to have originated in southern China, a region with a history of strange viruses, partly because people are encroaching on areas where animals live, authorities in Hong Kong said. Hard to treatSouth China, Hong Kong and Vietnam have been the hardest hit, with the disease spreading quickly and easily among clusters of health care workers caring for suspected cases and their families. Hong Kong now has 150 suspected cases of the disease and Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong confirmed on Wednesday three people have died so far from the virus in this city of 6.8 million people. In addition to the widely reported case of the businessman who died after returning from Vietnam, the other casualties were a doctor who came to seek help from neighboring Guangdong province and one person who died after spreading the disease to many others. The illness also has been associated in the deaths of another two people on Tuesday at the badly hit Prince of Wales hospital. Both were severely ill -- one was suffering from heart disease while the other from a liver ailment -- before they caught pneumonia, doctors said. Authorities say they are not sure how many people are immune to the disease in the community, and they are concentrating their efforts on people who have had contact with those in the clusters. Meanwhile a French doctor died in Vietnam on Wednesday, becoming the second person to be killed by the disease there after a nurse passed away at the weekend. Vietnam has more than 60 suspected cases. Two people have died from the disease in Canada. Damaging
The virus, which can lead to a complete respiratory breakdown, is damaging not only because it attacks the body but because of the body's immune response to it. While SARS has so far proved difficult to treat, Hong Kong doctors say they have had some success by prescribing a cocktail of antiviral drugs and steroids. Doctors say they hope the two drugs will keep the death rate to a minimum, with health workers reacting positively. While some patients are still in a very serious condition, several have already been discharged. While nervous Hong Kongers donned masks and swamped health hotlines, doctors in this congested city have tried to ease anxiety by citing a November outbreak in China's southern province of Guangdong. There, 305 people were infected, but only five people died and authorities say the virus is in remission. Doctors have also stressed the virus is spread by direct and sustained contact with someone who is infected and is not as contagious as other diseases, such as the flu. Because the virus is transmitted through droplets, it cannot be caught by casual contact, such as bumping into someone on the street, doctors added. The main symptoms include a high fever and cough, shortness of breath or other breathing difficulties. Authorities have warned airlines around the world to screen passengers because the killer bug seems to have been spread by air travel.
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