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American Morning

Fighting SARS

Aired April 29, 2003 - 08:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Senate today is holding hearings on the spread of SARS. Top health officials, including some from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, will testify on containment efforts in the U.S. and in Canada. Dr. James Hughes, director for the CDC National Center for Infectious Diseases, is with us live this morning in Atlanta.
Doctor, good to have you back. Good morning to you.

What is the message for Congress today and the Senate as the containment level right now for SARS in this country?

DR. JAMES HUGHES, DIR., NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, we are dealing with an emerging global microbial threat that has impacted countries in Asia, in North America and in Europe. The message is continued vigilance, heightened awareness of this disease, prompt implementation of effective infection control strategies.

HEMMER: Doctor, can you go to the Senate and say the U.S. is out of the woods, that we've dodged this?

HUGHES: No, we cannot say that we've dodged this. We most definitely are not out of the woods. We must maintain vigilance. We live in a global village. People move rapidly around the world. This disease could be reintroduced into the United States at any time.

HEMMER: Doctor, I want to show our viewers some poll numbers that we've conducted here, asking Americans in the survey about whether or not they are worried that either they or their family member could become a victim of SARS. 43 percent say yes. Not a majority, but a pretty high number. Would you classify this as an overreaction or just a normal reaction?

HUGHES: I think this is a normal reaction. People are interested in this issue, and I think rightly so. This is an unusual event. We've seen similar things in the past. Infectious diseases do emerge, new diseases do appear. We know how to deal with them. But it takes a coordinated effort between people in clinical medicine, people in the research community, people in public health and people in industry to deal with these kind of problems.

HEMMER: And as you know, there have been some health experts who say the U.S. right now, to this point anyway, has just been flat out lucky to avoid this. Do you agree with that?

HUGHES: Well, we've been fortunate. We have not encountered one of these hypertransmitters or superspreaders. There clearly are some people with this disease, for reasons that we don't understand, that are unusually able to very efficiency transmit the virus to people who are not protected by using appropriate infection control precautions. We've not identified one of those in the United States so far, but that could change at any time.

HEMMER: One more question here, too, about the emergency room across the country. It's my understanding anyway, that if SARS comes to the U.S., you'll identify it first in a hospital, in an emergency room, or perhaps in some large city, perhaps not. If that is the case, do you agree with that presumption, number one? And what are you doing for hospital across the country to notify them to keep on the lookout in case it comes here?

HUGHES: Well, clinicians are on the front line of recognition of this disease, no question about that. We're providing travelers who are coming into the United States from SARS-affected area with information on the disease. And we are providing advice to them that if they become ill with symptoms consistent with SARS, that they actually notify their health care provider before going to see the person. We'd prefer that such people not just walk into big city emergency rooms.

In addition, we have put a lot of emphasis on providing information on clinical manifestations and infection control precautions to clinicians around the country.

HEMMER: Doctor, thanks. Let's talk again. Dr. James Hughes in Atlanta, with the CDC. The CDC's on Capitol Hill today, testifying before the Senate.

Thank you, sir.

HUGHES: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired April 29, 2003 - 08:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. Senate today is holding hearings on the spread of SARS. Top health officials, including some from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, will testify on containment efforts in the U.S. and in Canada. Dr. James Hughes, director for the CDC National Center for Infectious Diseases, is with us live this morning in Atlanta.
Doctor, good to have you back. Good morning to you.

What is the message for Congress today and the Senate as the containment level right now for SARS in this country?

DR. JAMES HUGHES, DIR., NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, we are dealing with an emerging global microbial threat that has impacted countries in Asia, in North America and in Europe. The message is continued vigilance, heightened awareness of this disease, prompt implementation of effective infection control strategies.

HEMMER: Doctor, can you go to the Senate and say the U.S. is out of the woods, that we've dodged this?

HUGHES: No, we cannot say that we've dodged this. We most definitely are not out of the woods. We must maintain vigilance. We live in a global village. People move rapidly around the world. This disease could be reintroduced into the United States at any time.

HEMMER: Doctor, I want to show our viewers some poll numbers that we've conducted here, asking Americans in the survey about whether or not they are worried that either they or their family member could become a victim of SARS. 43 percent say yes. Not a majority, but a pretty high number. Would you classify this as an overreaction or just a normal reaction?

HUGHES: I think this is a normal reaction. People are interested in this issue, and I think rightly so. This is an unusual event. We've seen similar things in the past. Infectious diseases do emerge, new diseases do appear. We know how to deal with them. But it takes a coordinated effort between people in clinical medicine, people in the research community, people in public health and people in industry to deal with these kind of problems.

HEMMER: And as you know, there have been some health experts who say the U.S. right now, to this point anyway, has just been flat out lucky to avoid this. Do you agree with that?

HUGHES: Well, we've been fortunate. We have not encountered one of these hypertransmitters or superspreaders. There clearly are some people with this disease, for reasons that we don't understand, that are unusually able to very efficiency transmit the virus to people who are not protected by using appropriate infection control precautions. We've not identified one of those in the United States so far, but that could change at any time.

HEMMER: One more question here, too, about the emergency room across the country. It's my understanding anyway, that if SARS comes to the U.S., you'll identify it first in a hospital, in an emergency room, or perhaps in some large city, perhaps not. If that is the case, do you agree with that presumption, number one? And what are you doing for hospital across the country to notify them to keep on the lookout in case it comes here?

HUGHES: Well, clinicians are on the front line of recognition of this disease, no question about that. We're providing travelers who are coming into the United States from SARS-affected area with information on the disease. And we are providing advice to them that if they become ill with symptoms consistent with SARS, that they actually notify their health care provider before going to see the person. We'd prefer that such people not just walk into big city emergency rooms.

In addition, we have put a lot of emphasis on providing information on clinical manifestations and infection control precautions to clinicians around the country.

HEMMER: Doctor, thanks. Let's talk again. Dr. James Hughes in Atlanta, with the CDC. The CDC's on Capitol Hill today, testifying before the Senate.

Thank you, sir.

HUGHES: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com