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SARS Still Major Risk Despite Improvements in Containment in Asia

Aired April 22, 2003 - 15:01   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the latest numbers on the world wide spread of SARS. At last count the number of documented cases was approaching 4,000. It continues to grow. According to the World Health Organization, the pneumonia-like illness has claimed 229 lives now. More than half in mainland China and in Hong Kong.
Now as you probably know by now, the most cases of SARS in any country outside Asia are in Canada. Fourteen people have died in Canada, all in Ontario. Today American experts arrived in Toronto to study how the illness has spread there and a Canadian health official said the government there is seeking a balance between assertiveness and overreaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL GULLY, CANADIAN HEALTH OFFICIAL: We will have to learn to live with this and find the appropriate public health management strategies which can enable Canadians to -- Canada to exist as a country, but at the same time to control it as far as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: In this country the probable number of SARS cases stands at 39. Health officials in the U.S. have an advantage, they are able to watch the illness develop overseas and then take action to prevent it. For more on SARS in the U.S. we turn to our medical correspondent, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, they said, CDC today, the last thing we can do is relax.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Because it feels like in some ways that this is getting totally out of control in other parts of the world. And so as Dr. Gerberding -- ad the CDC was trying was we can't just sort of let our guard down because in the United States it has been a much more tame epidemic.

Miles mentioned 39 probable cases of SARS in the United States. The important thing to remember here is that out of those 39, 37 were travelers. In other words, 37 of the 39 got the disease by going to other parts of the world where there's a lot of SARS and brought it back.

But when they brought it back with them, and this is the key point here, they did not spread it very far. There are only two people who've gotten SARS in this country without traveling. One of them was a household contact with someone who had traveled and another was a doctor who treated someone sick with SARS. But as Dr. Gerberding said at the CDC press conference earlier today, this is no time to let our guard down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: We still have no capacity to predict where it's going or how large it's ultimately going to be. I think the good news is that we do see effective containment in some areas and some measures do seem to be very successful. I think we're also very sobered by the ongoing transmission to parts of the world, including Hong Kong where very, very appropriate public health steps have been taken, and yet the epidemic is continuing to evolve there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now Dr. Gerberding made some mention of containment. and what she -- one of the countries she was referring to is Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the first countries that had a SARS epidemic but it seems to have come under some control there. One of the reasons that Vietnam has done, form what I've been told, a good job of when people are sick, they isolate them immediately so that they don't get anyone else sick. And that isolation has been so key in that country and in the U.S. as well.

O'BRIEN: Of course China was reluctant to admit that this was a problem and that might have something to do with it as well.

What about travelers? If you are plan a trip to Asia should you go? Should you wear a surgical mask, as you've seen a lot of people on the planes? What should one do?

COHEN: Well the CDC says if you don't need to go to one of these SARS countries, do not go. Do not go unless you absolutely have to. When people come back from one of these countries where there's SARS, they are given this yellow card. And it's in several different languages. And what the card says is, if you have been in one of these countries where SARS is rampant, you need to look out for the signs of SARS. If you come down with a fever and a cough, and you've been to one of these countries you need to get yourself to a doctor quickly.

O'BRIEN: Any words on the Canadian connection? How did that come to be?

COHEN: Well, the Canadian connection came in the same way that every other country which is the people were in Asia and traveled to Canada. In Canada, two things happened. One is that apparently there was a case of what they call a super spreader. In other words, one person who for some reason, that this is not very well understood, just spread it to many, many people. One highly infectious person.

The other problem that they've had in Canada is they saw their epidemic there very early on, significantly before the epidemic in the United States. And so they didn't realize how infectious this virus is that causes SARS. O'BRIEN: So a good degree of luck has been bestowed upon the U.S. thus far?

COHEN: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: OK, well, we're going to make sure we don't relax. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

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




in Asia>


Aired April 22, 2003 - 15:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the latest numbers on the world wide spread of SARS. At last count the number of documented cases was approaching 4,000. It continues to grow. According to the World Health Organization, the pneumonia-like illness has claimed 229 lives now. More than half in mainland China and in Hong Kong.
Now as you probably know by now, the most cases of SARS in any country outside Asia are in Canada. Fourteen people have died in Canada, all in Ontario. Today American experts arrived in Toronto to study how the illness has spread there and a Canadian health official said the government there is seeking a balance between assertiveness and overreaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL GULLY, CANADIAN HEALTH OFFICIAL: We will have to learn to live with this and find the appropriate public health management strategies which can enable Canadians to -- Canada to exist as a country, but at the same time to control it as far as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: In this country the probable number of SARS cases stands at 39. Health officials in the U.S. have an advantage, they are able to watch the illness develop overseas and then take action to prevent it. For more on SARS in the U.S. we turn to our medical correspondent, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen. Elizabeth, they said, CDC today, the last thing we can do is relax.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Because it feels like in some ways that this is getting totally out of control in other parts of the world. And so as Dr. Gerberding -- ad the CDC was trying was we can't just sort of let our guard down because in the United States it has been a much more tame epidemic.

Miles mentioned 39 probable cases of SARS in the United States. The important thing to remember here is that out of those 39, 37 were travelers. In other words, 37 of the 39 got the disease by going to other parts of the world where there's a lot of SARS and brought it back.

But when they brought it back with them, and this is the key point here, they did not spread it very far. There are only two people who've gotten SARS in this country without traveling. One of them was a household contact with someone who had traveled and another was a doctor who treated someone sick with SARS. But as Dr. Gerberding said at the CDC press conference earlier today, this is no time to let our guard down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, CDC DIRECTOR: We still have no capacity to predict where it's going or how large it's ultimately going to be. I think the good news is that we do see effective containment in some areas and some measures do seem to be very successful. I think we're also very sobered by the ongoing transmission to parts of the world, including Hong Kong where very, very appropriate public health steps have been taken, and yet the epidemic is continuing to evolve there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Now Dr. Gerberding made some mention of containment. and what she -- one of the countries she was referring to is Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the first countries that had a SARS epidemic but it seems to have come under some control there. One of the reasons that Vietnam has done, form what I've been told, a good job of when people are sick, they isolate them immediately so that they don't get anyone else sick. And that isolation has been so key in that country and in the U.S. as well.

O'BRIEN: Of course China was reluctant to admit that this was a problem and that might have something to do with it as well.

What about travelers? If you are plan a trip to Asia should you go? Should you wear a surgical mask, as you've seen a lot of people on the planes? What should one do?

COHEN: Well the CDC says if you don't need to go to one of these SARS countries, do not go. Do not go unless you absolutely have to. When people come back from one of these countries where there's SARS, they are given this yellow card. And it's in several different languages. And what the card says is, if you have been in one of these countries where SARS is rampant, you need to look out for the signs of SARS. If you come down with a fever and a cough, and you've been to one of these countries you need to get yourself to a doctor quickly.

O'BRIEN: Any words on the Canadian connection? How did that come to be?

COHEN: Well, the Canadian connection came in the same way that every other country which is the people were in Asia and traveled to Canada. In Canada, two things happened. One is that apparently there was a case of what they call a super spreader. In other words, one person who for some reason, that this is not very well understood, just spread it to many, many people. One highly infectious person.

The other problem that they've had in Canada is they saw their epidemic there very early on, significantly before the epidemic in the United States. And so they didn't realize how infectious this virus is that causes SARS. O'BRIEN: So a good degree of luck has been bestowed upon the U.S. thus far?

COHEN: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: OK, well, we're going to make sure we don't relax. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

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




in Asia>