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June 30, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"WHO: World Will Be SARS-Free in 2-3 Weeks"

Reuters Health Information Services (www.reutershealth.com) (06/27/03); Eaton, Dan

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) should disappear within the next two to three weeks, although it could pop up again this winter in China.  The WHO's Dr. David Heymann says that Toronto and Taiwan will probably be declared clean by the first week of July; they are the only two areas where SARS is thought to be still transmittable.  SARS has killed over 800 people and cost billions of dollars in lost business, but the most severely affected areas--China and Hong Kong--have already been cleared by the WHO.  Heymann warns that this winter could see the virus again transmitted from animals in southern China to humans, and he notes that no one knows yet whether SARS will be seasonal.