WHO Calls China SARS Outbreak Contained

Wednesday, May 19th 2004, 9:15 am

By: News On 6

BEIJING (AP) _ China has contained its latest SARS outbreak, which was linked to a Beijing research laboratory, the World Health Organization said Wednesday, urging continued vigilance in labs around the globe where workers handle the virus.

More than three weeks have passed since the last case in China was isolated, the WHO said in a statement posted on its Web site. ``The chain of human-to-human transmission appears to have been broken,'' the statement said.

The nine cases in the recent outbreak were linked to a virus research lab where experiments using live and inactive SARS coronavirus were carried out.

Citing ``serious concerns,'' the statement said WHO experts have been studying the National Institute of Virology to find out how the disease spread and examine safety measures.

But remaining questions about how the infections started may never be answered, WHO said.

A preliminary investigation has ``yet to identify a single infectious source or single procedural error at the Institute, and it is conceivable that an exact answer may never be determined,'' the WHO said.

Two researchers _ neither of whom were exposed to the live virus _ developed SARS in late March and mid-April, the WHO said. The outbreak was reported on April 22 and the Institute was closed a day later.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome was first reported in the southern province of Guangdong in late 2002. It killed 774 people worldwide last year and infected more than 8,000 before abating in July.

``WHO urges all member states to view this latest outbreak as an opportunity to review the biosafety practices of institutions and laboratories working with SARS coronavirus,'' the statement said.

Out of the nine most recent infections, two people remain hospitalized in Beijing.

In December and January, China reported four cases in Guangdong, and all of those patients recovered.