SARS Could Make Unwelcome Return, but Asia Now Better Prepared
The sweep of the pneumonia-like virus across 30 countries, most of them in East Asia, killed 813 people from a total 8,437 infections before it was declared contained in July by the World Health Organization (WHO).
But the health scare it whipped up savaged the region's multibillion-dollar travel industry, with people preferring to stay home instead of exposing themselves to the risk of infection by the disease, which still has no known antidote.
"It's very difficult for us to be definite on whether SARS will come back or not. But there's a possibility that it could make a comeback," said Jenean Spencer, a SARS consultant at the WHO's Western Pacific office in Manila. "We can't rule it out so we will remain vigilant and keep looking for the possibility of cases to make sure that if it does happen again we will know about it quickly."
Experts fear SARS, which produces symptoms similar to ordinary influenza, could re-emerge during the flu season or in the winter -- about the same time it was first detected in southern China in November 2002, AFP reported.
China's initial reluctance to reveal the extent of infection sent the virus across the border to Hong Kong, a global financial entrepot, and to 31 countries worldwide.
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam and Singapore were the hardest hit, with the Canadian city of Toronto bearing the brunt of the SARS fury outside of Asia.
The WHO and public health authorities now say they are better prepared now should there be a recurrence, and will be able to monitor early signs of infection.
"There's been lots of lessons from SARS that we have learned. We are also going through a phase now of having to develop surveillance mechanisms that will quickly detect cases, but the difficulty is making these surveillance systems sustainable," Spencer told AFP.
Some of the measures implemented during the outbreak were time-consuming and resource-intensive, she noted, so the new aim is to make surveillance easier by using technology.
The WHO is also providing training, equipment and expertise to public health authorities.
Singapore, which pioneered tough actions to deal with SARS that included massive quarantines, school closures and daily temperature checks, has eased off somewhat since SARS was contained in the city-state but has maintained its vigilance ahead of a possible resurgence during the Northern Hemisphere winter, a health ministry spokeswoman said.
"Drawing on the lessons learnt from the SARS outbreak, our hospitals are adopting a higher level of infection control and personal protective gear usage and response plans have been established and are being tested through exercises," she said.
Anti-SARS systems set up during the epidemic and subsequent lessons learned were "being consolidated so as to increase our preparedness level," the spokeswoman added. Thirty-three people died from SARS in Singapore.
In Taiwan, where 84 people died from SARS and 671 were infected, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) will provide blood tests and throat swab analysis to any travelers checking in with fevers at the country's international airports.
Anyone refusing to comply will be denied entry, the CDC said.
In addition, travelers from former SARS-affected areas including Hong Kong and China and neighboring Macau are required to check and record their temperatures twice daily during the first 10 days of their stay in Taiwan.
China on Friday said it will spend 460 million dollars over the next two years to patch the glaring holes exposed in its flawed public health care system by the epidemic that claimed 348 lives from 5,327 infections in the world's most populous country.
The Philippines said it plans to buy three more high-tech thermal scanners to add to the one already installed at its main airport.
Singapore has donated similar fever-checking machines to Indonesia and China.
The WHO's Spencer said a major priority was to ensure countries do not become complacent in their vigilance to prevent future outbreaks of SARS or other infectious diseases.
And while a range of SARS diagnostic kits is already available, scientists are still trying to develop a device that can detect SARS very early on.
Scientists now have a "very good understanding of the clinical picture" of the SARS virus, "but certainly in other areas such as transmission -- in terms of how it came across into humans -- there are still a lot of unanswered questions," Spencer said. "Our aim is to use the lessons that we learned from the outbreak and develop sustainable methods to make sure that we are ready for SARS should it come back again, and also be ready for any other possible emerging infectious diseases."