Guangdong outbreak now 'under control'

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) is effectively under control in Guangdong, the health minister said yesterday.

But Zhang Wenkang admitted that the highly communicable disease had not been stamped out on the mainland.

In the first news conference about the virus by a top Chinese official since the outbreak, Mr Zhang tried to reassure the world that China was a safe place to live, travel and work.

Mr Zhang said that by the end of March, China had 1,190 reported cases in five provinces in addition to Beijing. He admitted that the disease had not been eradicated and much scientific investigation still needed to be done to determine the cause of the virus.

The health minister rejected widespread international criticism that China's delay in co-operating with the World Health Organisation (WHO) was a deliberate attempt to conceal crucial information on the outbreak of the disease, which has now spread to nearly 20 countries. Mr Zhang also suggested the virus might not have originated in Guangdong, or even in China, as most health officials outside the mainland believe.

Despite the fact that more than half of all reported cases of Sars have occurred in Guangdong, Mr Zhang cautioned against jumping to the conclusion that China had 'exported' the disease.

In some countries where Sars cases were reported, the patients had never been to Guangdong or southern China, he said. Mr Zhang said Guangdong was safe for travellers, cracking a joke that he had not been paid by the airline companies to make the advertisement.