China reported four new suspected cases of SARS in the capital on Sunday, two days after the confirmation of two cases linked to a Beijing research lab. All the new suspected cases have been traced back to the same patient, the Ministry of Health said.

The announcement brought the total number of cases during the past week to two confirmed and six suspected. The new suspected cases are the father, mother, aunt and roommate of a 20-year-old confirmed SARS patient in Beijing, the ministry said.

 

The other confirmed case of the past week is a 26-year-old medical student in the southern province of Anhui.

 

Body temperature of the patient in Anhui has restored to normal level, said a local official.

 

The patient, with surname Song, is now receiving treatment in the No. 1 Affiliated Hospital with the Anhui Medical University (AMU), said Zhang Xuejun, President of the AMU.

 

On Friday night, Song's body temperature was 37.5 degrees Celsius. It went down to 36.5 degrees Celsius Saturday morning, said Zhang.

 

Song has a good appetite and ate half egg, half bread and some soybean milk as breakfast Saturday morning, said Zhang. Song also began to use her mobile phone to send messages to relatives and friends.

 

Song is a 26-year-old female postgraduate at AMU. She studied in Beijing at a laboratory of the institute of virus diseases under the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) from March 7 to 22.

 

On March 23, Song went back to Hefei, capital of Anhui, by train and then returned to Beijing by train after complaining of fever on March 25. Later Song went to see doctors at Beijing and Huainan City of Anhui Province. On April 4, she was transferred to the No. 1 Affiliated Hospital with the Anhui Medical University for viral pneumonia.

 

Song's mother was another suspected case in Anhui. She died on April 19.

 

The new SARS cases was caused by a laboratory infection, officials say.

 

As early warning systems for SARS kicked into gear across the country. The silver lining, say health experts, is the fact that the virus comes from a laboratory which reduces the risk of people being infected.

 

"We have adopted effective measures to prevent the spread of the virus. SARS cases in Beijing will not influence any visit from overseas," Jin Dapeng, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Health vowed Friday.

 

A 20-year-old nurse surnamed Li was the first reported case on Thursday but she was not the first person infected, officials said Friday.

 

Emergency circular issued on SARS prevention

 

The Tourism Administration in east China's Anhui Province has issued an emergency circular calling for all local subordinate sectors to take immediate action to prevent the spread of SARS, especially during the upcoming May Day holidays.

 

The calls came after one diagnosed SARS case and one suspected SARS case were reported Friday in the province, where is the renowned scenic Mount Huangshan. The province has launched a SARS early warning and prevention system accordingly.

 

Both local anti-SARS work headquarters and the administration convened emergency meetings Friday to start up preparatory measures to fight against the highly contagious disease.

 

Tourism departments in Hefei, capital of the province, Huainan,Huangshan and Chizhou cities are required as scheduled to stand on duty around the clock, with those in other cities across the province to keep channels open for information.

 

Any fever cases are required to be reported immediately, and the administration announced its full readiness to deal with emergencies with its anti-SARS office open around the clock.

 

 (China Daily April 25, 2004)