NAIA, quarantine bureau on alert for new SARS outbreak

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is keeping a tight watch on the possible resurgence of SARS after China confirmed having two new cases of the killer virus.

NAIA acting general manager Oscar Paras ordered yesterday his action officers to closely monitor passengers coming from China as well as Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the new Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in China presents the most serious challenge to fighting the disease since it was declared under control last year.

With China confirming two new SARS cases and six suspected infections, WHO Western Pacific regional director Shigeru Omi said yesterday the re-emergence of SARS does not pose a serious public health threat, but the situation requires "more attention" than other SARS cases that have occurred since last year.

A WHO report received by the Bureau of Quarantine and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said there are suspected cases of SARS in Beijing, China.

The report, dated April 23, cited the case of a nurse who supposedly developed SARS-like symptoms last April 5. She was admitted to a hospital on April 7 but her condition did not improve and was later placed in intensive care.

Dr. Emmanuel Sto. Domingo of the Bureau of Quarantine said they are on full alert and are coordinating with the NAIA for the setting up of equipment used for detecting potential SARS infection. Paras has placed in-charge of the SARS monitoring officers Jose Foronda, Fred Vasquez and Danila Chua.

"With the cooperation of the NAIA management, we are setting up thermal scanning machines in NAIA 1 and 2 and we are planning to use again the thermal strip," Sto. Domingo said.

He added that spray disinfection of aircraft coming from the countries under a tight SARS watch might also be implemented again "as a precautionary measure to prevent SARS from spreading into the country."

The WHO noted that one suspected SARS patient has died in China.

"This is the first time that we have third-generation infection in terms of laboratory-acquired infection," Omi told a news conference.

"This situation is not yet a serious public health threat, but if you compare this one with the two laboratory-acquired cases in Taiwan and Singapore, and also if you compare this one with the four SARS cases (in Guangdong, China) which happened during the first part of this year ... the situation needs more attention," Omi said.

A 26-year-old graduate student from the southern province of Anhui who was working in a laboratory in Beijing that handled the SARS virus and a 20-year-old nurse in Beijing who took care of the student were confirmed to have SARS.

The student’s mother died April 19, but authorities still consider her case as suspected SARS. The nurse’s mother, father and aunt and another contact were also suspected to have been infected, as well as a 31-year-old male doctor from the same laboratory as the student, Omi said.

He said although tests were pending, it is likely the male doctor got infected from the laboratory and not through the student. The doctor developed fever on April 17, long after the female student became feverish on March 20.

The two cases from the same laboratory clearly show there were "some sort of errors, mistakes" in laboratory security, Omi said.

He said the WHO will send a mission to China in the next few days to find out how the lapse occurred.

Nearly 500 people were in quarantine in China’s capital and a southern province on Monday as authorities raced to contain SARS before the May Day national holiday puts millions of travelers on the road.

Omi called for vigilance, noting that the student traveled back and forth to Beijing three times with a fever and that "many people have been exposed or potentially exposed."

But he said the origin of the virus — the laboratory — has been identified and so far there is no evidence of community transmission. The link between each case has also been identified, and all suspected and confirmed cases have been isolated, he said.

Omi congratulated China for its strong surveillance system and for reporting the new cases immediately, unlike last year, when Chinese authorities were criticized for not promptly disclosing the outbreak.

SARS first emerged in southern China’s Guangdong province in November 2002. It triggered a global health crisis, killing 774 people around the world and infecting more than 8,000. In China, 349 people died. — With AP