WHO doctor dies of killer virus, infections rise

2.00pm

UPDATE - The World Health Organisation doctor who first identified the deadly pneumonia virus which has killed at least 55 people worldwide has died, the latest victim of the disease, officials said.

The number of people infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) rose sharply in Hong Kong and fears about the virus spread in Singapore, where cinemas and shopping malls were deserted on Saturday as people stayed away to avoid contracting the infection.

Taiwan joined Hong Kong and Singapore in quarantining people at home if they had been exposed to the virus.

Carlo Urbani, a 46-year-old WHO doctor, identified the outbreak of SARS in a US businessman admitted to hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The UN health agency announced his death on Saturday but did not say where or when he had succumbed.

However, an official at Thailand's public health ministry said a foreign doctor, believed to have contracted SARS, died in a Bangkok hospital.

The doctor contracted the virus in Vietnam and had been in hospital for 15 days in Bangkok, the official said.

Nearly 1,500 people have been infected around the globe after the virus first showed up in China and was subsequently carried to other parts of Asia, Europe and the United States by travellers. Washington has urged Americans to postpone travel to parts of Asia.

In an effort to rein in the disease, Taiwan ordered quarantine late on Friday on some 240 family members and friends of its 10 patients battling the deadly respiratory disease.

"All the people related have been cooperative. Everybody is scared," said a Department of Health official, who added that the number could rise to 400 in coming days.

They will have to stay home for up to 14 days or face a fine of up to $8,620.

HONG KONG, SINGAPORE

Outside mainland China, infection numbers are highest in Hong Kong and Singapore. Desperate to break the cycle of the deadly virus, both cities have shut schools and quarantined people who may have been exposed.

Singapore, which has nearly doubled to over 1,500 the number of people under quarantine, released the names of 18 people it wanted to locate after they shared a flight with a sick woman.

These may have been exposed on Southern China Airlines flight CZ 355 on March 26, the government said.

The number of people infected with the virus in the tiny state rose to 89 on Saturday from 86 a day earlier. Thirteen patients are in a serious condition.

Struggling with its worst health crisis in half a century, Hong Kong was bombarded with yet another sharp rise in the number of infections on Saturday, to 470 from 425 a day ago.

The city is also tracking down hundreds of people who may have been exposed to the virus on at least three Hong Kong-linked flights, and one of its top health officials delivered a chilling warning that many have not even dared to contemplate for weeks.

"We've never ruled out the possibility that the disease might be airborne," said Director of Health Margaret Chan. An airborne virus will spreads more quickly than one carried by droplets.

Scientists say the virus is a new strain from the family of coronaviruses, which is the second leading cause of the common cold. Previously, they have said the virus was passed through droplets, such as in sneezing or coughing.

DEEP DISRUPTIONS

The epidemic has spooked air travellers all over the world and airports are screening passengers to sieve out those showing symptoms of the disease, which include chills, high fever and breathing difficulty.

In Taiwan on Saturday, workers scrubbed and disinfected the Taipei International Airport, subway stations and schools.

At least four large companies in Hong Kong and one in Singapore have sent some staff home after workers fell ill.

The disease has killed 34 in mainland China and infected over 800, although authorities say the situation there is now under control. Eleven are dead in Hong Kong, four in Vietnam, three in Canada and two in Singapore. The WHO doctor is the latest victim.

But the virus did little to dampen the mood at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, though the number of attendees on the opening day fell to over 15,000 from more than 24,000 last year.

"It's incredibly unlikely that I'll get it. It's only infected 425 people out of seven million (in Hong Kong)," said British publisher Lawrence Bell, who added he had no qualms about sharing beers with his friends.

A number of countries have urged their people to put off non-essential travel to China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi.

But Vietnam, where the virus has killed four and infected 62 people in Hanoi, says it is no longer a threat.

At a Pacific Asia Tourism Association conference in Vietnam, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said the gathering underscored the view that Vietnam was a "safe and friendly destination."

- REUTERS