New cases trigger NZ Sars alert

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

Two patients suspected of having the potentially fatal Sars disease have been admitted to hospital in Auckland.

The cases have been reported to the World Health Organisation.

Neither patient has been confirmed as having Sars, but international rules require a report to the WHO if the disease is suspected.



Both patients developed potential symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome after returning from business trips to Asian countries.

They were admitted to Green Lane Hospital - one on Tuesday, the other on Wednesday - and put in negative-air-pressure isolation rooms.

One, a young woman, had been to Hong Kong; the other, a young man, went to Taiwan.



About 8400 cases of Sars have been reported around the world and more than 770 people have died since the epidemic began in southern China last November.

The WHO now says the disease is "clearly in decline" as outbreaks in initial hot zones are contained or brought under control.

The main symptoms are a high fever, cough and trouble breathing.

The Auckland patients developed symptoms some time after returning to New Zealand, an Auckland medical officer of health, Dr Lester Calder, said last night.

"One went through A&E at Auckland Hospital. One went though a GP to get referred into hospital."

Neither patient was seriously ill, he said. "Both are very unlikely to be Sars."

But New Zealand is obliged to report even suspected cases to the WHO since notifying it of the country's only probable case - a 39-year-old Hawkes Bay woman who developed symptoms in April after a trip to China.

She was discharged from Hawkes Bay Hospital after spending nearly a week in an isolation room.

The two Auckland patients have been tested for Sars, but it will be days before the results are known and they might not be definitive.



The Health Ministry's Sars clinical director, Dr Doug Lush, said that tests were "still pretty dodgy".

"If they are positive they are good; if they are negative, we still can't say for sure it's not Sars."

He said that the new patients brought New Zealand's total to 12 suspected cases and one probable case.



The ministry is still warning people to postpone non-essential travel to China and Taiwan because of Sars, but has downgraded its warnings in respect of Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada, now advising people to consider postponing non-essential trips.

Dr Lush said the Sars threat had diminished, but there were still great risks.

"The situation in Vietnam and Singapore, where they have controlled outbreaks, is good reason for comfort and belief that this can be contained.

"The situation in Toronto illustrates that if you lower your guard you can get into big trouble, and this is what happened."

He said New Zealand health authorities remained vigilant.

A mainstay of border defence was a new arrival card, introduced last month, on which incoming passengers on all international flights must answer questions on their travel history and health, which will highlight any risks of their having Sars.