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SCMP Reporter

Dogs, cats, rodents or birds from Guangdong may have spread atypical pneumonia to people in the province in November, World Health Organisation (WHO) experts said yesterday.

The WHO team hopes to get permission to visit Guangdong for a week from tomorrow to get to the root of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).

In Guangdong, team members hope to check possible disease sources, then return to Beijing to analyse results.

They anticipate getting approval but said they would consider the trip successful even if they did not leave Beijing.

They said because more cases had been reported in China than in any other affected country, understanding its origins was crucial to controlling it worldwide.

Team members yesterday complimented the Chinese government for providing information this week and said there was no reason to panic.

James Maguire, epidemiologist and infectious disease control specialist with the US Centres for Disease Control, said because it only spread through close contact, this atypical pneumonia would not rival the 1918 influenza that killed millions.

'This trip [to Beijing] is unique because it's a pretty unique event,' Mr Maguire said. 'There was the initial fear of what it could be. We worried about that, and that's one of the things that mobilised the world coming together - that's unprecedented.'

The disease, labelled a 'coronavirus' because of its crown shape under the microscope, looks like similar viruses borne by animals.

The never-seen-before virus also resembled the common cold, said Meirion Evans, a University of Wales epidemiologist and member of a five-man WHO team charged with understanding Sars.

Other coronaviruses had come from farm animals, but because most of the cases in Guangdong came from cities, another animal may be responsible.

He said the disease had shown other unusual manifestations. For example, it seldom spread to other people until it had become severe enough to send the original victim to hospital - making it easy to avoid the sick person. Once the disease had subsided, victims were not carriers.

The WHO team learned about the first Sars case - on November 16 in Foshan, Guangdong - during meetings this week with Chinese health officials in Beijing.

But Mr Evans declined to offer details about the case.

The WHO hopes to gather more data from this family and others who first caught the disease.

He said he believed what authorities had told the team over three days of meetings ending yesterday.

'The data was real,' Mr Evans said. 'I believe it because the data was collected carefully.'

He said team members planned to visit Beijing laboratories today.

The information gathered so far did not give authorities enough to suggest specific cautions, team members said. But they advised against panic, noting that they had interacted with Beijing people, almost none of whom were wearing face masks.

Because the disease spreads only through close contact, the best advice is not to touch one's face after shaking hands and to open windows in a room where someone is coughing violently, said Mr Maguire.

TRACKING A KILLER

The outbreak is unlikely to rival the deadly influenza of 1918

Dogs, cats, rodents or birds may have spread the illness

The virus resembles the common cold



Dogs and rats may have spread virus