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April 18, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"In Hong Kong Apartment Tower, SARS Virus Spread Through Building"

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (04/18/03) P. A16; Stein, Rob

Health officials now believe that early victims of the SARS virus caught the deadly respiratory disease from their apartment building. The earliest confirmed cases of SARS were the residents of a 33-story Hong Kong high-rise, where officials say the respiratory disorder may have been transmitted through the bathroom drainpipes.  Klaus Stohr, the World Health Organization's lead investigator for the SARS epidemic, said health officials are alarmed by the prospect of the virus being transmitted through plumbing and other conduits, but he added that the pattern the epidemic has followed up until now suggests that would not occur often. Even so, Stohr said traces of the virus have been found in various types of body fluid, including blood, feces, urine, saliva, and tears.

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