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CDC Reports 90 Percent Sure of Cause of Mystery Illness SARS

Aired April 01, 2003 - 12:44   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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the war in the Gulf. We have much more coverage of that coming up. We want to take a quick break from the war to follow another important story, an international story. That's focusing in on a mystery illness. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Today he is checking in on the fight against a lethal and fast growing illness. Officially it is called SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome.
CNN's medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us with details -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, hello, here at the Centers for Disease Control, they had some news. They said they are 90 percent sure that they have found the cause of SARS. They say it's a virus called the corona virus. And it is a brand new strain they have never seen before. They say it behaves very strangely under the microscope. It has very strange behavior. They have never seen it before.

Now, the virus has a crown around it. Now if you take a look at there's the circular virus and then it has a crown or sort of halo. That's the reason why it's called the corona virus. It's important that they think they are this close to identifying it. Because corona viruses usually respond to anti-viral medications. And now they can do the work to figure out which anti-viral medication it would be.

As Wolf mentioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson is visiting the CDC today. He sat down with Dr. Sharif Boci (ph), who is a pathologist at the CDC. They looked at samples from SARS patients under the microscope. CDC has received samples from U.S. patients, patients in Hong Kong, as well as in Canada.

It's interesting to note that in the United States this epidemic has taken on huge proportion. In the United States there are 69 illnesses and 0 deaths. In the world there have been 1,800 illnesses and 62 deaths. It appears it has been better contained in the United States. It's mostly people who traveled abroad and came back with the disease -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Why is it better contained in the United States than, let's say, Hong Kong or China, or someplace in Asia?

COHEN: I have heard two theories. One is people don't live in the same close quarters as they do in Asian countries. And second of all, in the United States, the United States got the disease well after these other countries so they could learn from them. So for example, when travelers from those Asian countries come to the U.S., they hand them a card when they step off the plane and say, look if you develop a fever and cough, you need to go to your doctor because they are probably going to want to put you in isolation. So, it's being able to learn from other countries that has helped the U.S. set up these public health measures.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen with important words from the CDC earlier today. Thanks, Elizabeth. We'll continue to follow that very significant story.

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




SARS>


Aired April 1, 2003 - 12:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the war in the Gulf. We have much more coverage of that coming up. We want to take a quick break from the war to follow another important story, an international story. That's focusing in on a mystery illness. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson is at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Today he is checking in on the fight against a lethal and fast growing illness. Officially it is called SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome.
CNN's medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is joining us with details -- Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, hello, here at the Centers for Disease Control, they had some news. They said they are 90 percent sure that they have found the cause of SARS. They say it's a virus called the corona virus. And it is a brand new strain they have never seen before. They say it behaves very strangely under the microscope. It has very strange behavior. They have never seen it before.

Now, the virus has a crown around it. Now if you take a look at there's the circular virus and then it has a crown or sort of halo. That's the reason why it's called the corona virus. It's important that they think they are this close to identifying it. Because corona viruses usually respond to anti-viral medications. And now they can do the work to figure out which anti-viral medication it would be.

As Wolf mentioned Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson is visiting the CDC today. He sat down with Dr. Sharif Boci (ph), who is a pathologist at the CDC. They looked at samples from SARS patients under the microscope. CDC has received samples from U.S. patients, patients in Hong Kong, as well as in Canada.

It's interesting to note that in the United States this epidemic has taken on huge proportion. In the United States there are 69 illnesses and 0 deaths. In the world there have been 1,800 illnesses and 62 deaths. It appears it has been better contained in the United States. It's mostly people who traveled abroad and came back with the disease -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Why is it better contained in the United States than, let's say, Hong Kong or China, or someplace in Asia?

COHEN: I have heard two theories. One is people don't live in the same close quarters as they do in Asian countries. And second of all, in the United States, the United States got the disease well after these other countries so they could learn from them. So for example, when travelers from those Asian countries come to the U.S., they hand them a card when they step off the plane and say, look if you develop a fever and cough, you need to go to your doctor because they are probably going to want to put you in isolation. So, it's being able to learn from other countries that has helped the U.S. set up these public health measures.

BLITZER: Elizabeth Cohen with important words from the CDC earlier today. Thanks, Elizabeth. We'll continue to follow that very significant story.

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




SARS>