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CNN Live At Daybreak
Scanning for SARS
Aired May 05, 2003 - 06:19 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On to the global fight against SARS. As Susan mentioned, new research suggests it's a tougher bug than scientists first thought. The World Health Organization reports the virus can survive for days in human waste, and that adds weight to the theory leaky sewage pipes may be linked to a SARS outbreak at a Hong Kong apartment complex. But the WHO also says common disinfectants can kill the virus.
In Mainland China and Hong Kong, SARS is blamed for almost 400 deaths now. Asian countries are now turning to technology to help single out those who may be infected.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout shows us how it works and the potential pitfalls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A tsunami of travelers. Each hour, up to 10,000 people pass through these gates between Hong Kong and Southern China, the world's epicenter of SARS. And to keep another carrier from crossing the border, infrared cameras have been called into action, screening faces flushed with fever, a key sign of the illness.
(on camera): There are 33 thermal infrared scanners here at the low (ph) checkpoint between Hong Kong and China. It's a fast and non- intrusive way of screening waves of people.
(voice-over): The camera is essentially a heat detector. It measures the infrared energy released from the body. Green light, you're good to go. Red light, you have a temperature over 100 and will be steered to a nursing station for more tests.
Health authorities are also looking into a handheld version to single out the sick.
DR. THOMAS CHUNG, HONG KONG DEPT. OF HEALTH: We have been exploring the exportability (ph) of the handheld screener because the mechanism or the principal is the same. We detect temperature by measuring the infrared around the subject or around the people.
STOUT: A growing number of countries are using infrared devices to weed out suspected SARS carriers. Arrivals in Singapore are greeted with live video of blue and green blobs taken from this thermal camera. It takes a thermograph or a color reading of body temperature. If the monitors see red, the feverish passenger is pulled aside. But its creator admits there's a way around the system.
LEE KAH LUP, ST. ELECTRONICS: Perhaps like if you use a cold towel to wipe the face before you come out of -- in front of the camera, you'll probably be cool to the camera because they actually pick up your skin temperature.
STOUT: Infrared cameras can also make false positives. More seriously, it can skip certain carriers.
DR. T.H. LAM, INFECTIOUS DISEASES EXPERT: You may also not be able to screen people who have no fever but may be already having the disease at the early stage, right. So there's no way, at the moment, using this equipment to detect these people.
STOUT: Labs around the world are racing to create a fast and reliable test for SARS. In the meantime, Hong Kong is sticking to the technology it has on hand. Plans are underway for 300 thermal scanners to be installed at the border.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 5, 2003 - 06:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On to the global fight against SARS. As Susan mentioned, new research suggests it's a tougher bug than scientists first thought. The World Health Organization reports the virus can survive for days in human waste, and that adds weight to the theory leaky sewage pipes may be linked to a SARS outbreak at a Hong Kong apartment complex. But the WHO also says common disinfectants can kill the virus.
In Mainland China and Hong Kong, SARS is blamed for almost 400 deaths now. Asian countries are now turning to technology to help single out those who may be infected.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout shows us how it works and the potential pitfalls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A tsunami of travelers. Each hour, up to 10,000 people pass through these gates between Hong Kong and Southern China, the world's epicenter of SARS. And to keep another carrier from crossing the border, infrared cameras have been called into action, screening faces flushed with fever, a key sign of the illness.
(on camera): There are 33 thermal infrared scanners here at the low (ph) checkpoint between Hong Kong and China. It's a fast and non- intrusive way of screening waves of people.
(voice-over): The camera is essentially a heat detector. It measures the infrared energy released from the body. Green light, you're good to go. Red light, you have a temperature over 100 and will be steered to a nursing station for more tests.
Health authorities are also looking into a handheld version to single out the sick.
DR. THOMAS CHUNG, HONG KONG DEPT. OF HEALTH: We have been exploring the exportability (ph) of the handheld screener because the mechanism or the principal is the same. We detect temperature by measuring the infrared around the subject or around the people.
STOUT: A growing number of countries are using infrared devices to weed out suspected SARS carriers. Arrivals in Singapore are greeted with live video of blue and green blobs taken from this thermal camera. It takes a thermograph or a color reading of body temperature. If the monitors see red, the feverish passenger is pulled aside. But its creator admits there's a way around the system.
LEE KAH LUP, ST. ELECTRONICS: Perhaps like if you use a cold towel to wipe the face before you come out of -- in front of the camera, you'll probably be cool to the camera because they actually pick up your skin temperature.
STOUT: Infrared cameras can also make false positives. More seriously, it can skip certain carriers.
DR. T.H. LAM, INFECTIOUS DISEASES EXPERT: You may also not be able to screen people who have no fever but may be already having the disease at the early stage, right. So there's no way, at the moment, using this equipment to detect these people.
STOUT: Labs around the world are racing to create a fast and reliable test for SARS. In the meantime, Hong Kong is sticking to the technology it has on hand. Plans are underway for 300 thermal scanners to be installed at the border.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM AT www.fdch.com
