Health officials are facing the possibility that the deadly super-pneumonia currently spreading around the world may be spread far more easily than thought.
One reason for the fear is an explosion of 185 cases in a large housing block in Hong Kong, which has been now been quarantined. Experts are trying to establish if the illness, called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), can be spread by airborne transmission, or even possibly waterborne transmission.
Until now, the disease was thought to be transmitted only by prolonged face-to-face contact, with a person breathing in the air exhaled by an infected person, or droplets of saliva produced by their coughs or sneezes.
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But Julie Gerberding, director of the US Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, said in a briefing that 鈥渁necdotal reports鈥� suggested much briefer contact could transfer SARS.
鈥淲e are concerned about the possibility of airborne transmission across broader areas and also the possibility that objects that become contaminated in the environment could serve as modes of spread,鈥� she said. Airborne transmission would mean the SARS virus could hang in the air, to be breathed in later by others.
Leaking sewers
The speed at which the illness has spread through the Hong Kong building has prompted concerns. 鈥淲e are now examining all possible angles, to see if it is airborne or in the building鈥檚 water mains,鈥� a Hong Kong government spokeswoman told Reuters.
Health Minister Yeoh Eng-kiong added that the virus had been detected in the fecal material of patients from the block. 鈥淭here was a suggestion that the sewage system was leaking 鈥� we are investigating,鈥� said Yeoh.
The Hong Kong housing block, the Amoy Gardens in Kowloon, was surrounded by about 50 police officers on Monday, as the Hong Kong authorities invoked quarantine laws to try to stem the growing crisis. Jail and fines face anyone who violates the quarantine and no one is allowed to enter or leave without written authority until 9 April.
Worst in history
SARS is believed to have originated in China in November, since when it has killed 34 people and infected a further 800. Hong Kong has been next hardest hit, with 15 deaths and 610 cases, as of Monday. SARS is the worst air-travel related epidemic in history, according to one WHO official, and has now claimed a total of 62 lives, with at least 1700 people infected in 15 different countries.
The prime suspect for SARS is a coronavirus, the family from which a third of the common colds stem. Gerbinding said coronaviruses can survive in the environment for up to three hours. She warned that 鈥渢he potential for infecting a large number of people is very great鈥�.
But John Oxford, a virologist at Queen Mary, University of London, said the disease did not appear highly infectious. With all of the viruses suggested to cause SARS, such as coronavirus and paramyxovirus, 鈥渢here鈥檚 a chance it could remain suspended in the air for an hour or so in a room. But you are much, much more likely to be infected by breathing in someone鈥檚 breath,鈥� he says.
Oxford believes the outbreak will not grow to claim thousands of lives. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 hesitate getting on a plane to Hong Kong,鈥� he told 快猫短视频.