GENEVA, Switzerland, March 26 (UPI) -- World Health Organization officials said Wednesday that they have identified the ongoing outbreak of a mysterious, pneumonia-like illness in China as severe acute respiratory syndrome.
The news more than doubles the number of cases and deaths of the global epidemic of the new disease.
The international health agency said the determination was made by its team of five infectious disease experts, which arrived in China on the weekend and compared information collected by that country with data collected from SARS patients in other nations.
The data are compatible, officials said.
So far, China has experienced a total of 792 cases and 31 deaths from the outbreak, which began last November in seven cities of the country's Guangdong province. The new statistics apply through Feb. 28, officials said.
Chinese authorities told the WHO team they have instituted a new reporting system on the disease and will furnish WHO with information on new reported cases and provide blood samples from infected individuals.
Including the new data from China, the total number of probable SARS cases worldwide rose Wednesday to 1,323, with 49 deaths.
WHO officials said several countries are taking steps, including quarantine, to prevent the further spread of SARS. Such measures are needed to protect populations against infection, keep the disease from spreading into the general population and help prevent international spread to other countries, particularly through air travel, officials said.
As the epidemiology of SARS becomes better understood, such measures can be eased to address how the disease is transmitted and what works best to stop its spread.
Meanwhile, researchers are focusing on the coronavirus family as the most probable candidate for the SARS-causing organism. Disease experts also are testing for paramyxovirus. It is possible "SARS is caused by co-infection with two new viruses that somehow need each other in order to cause severe disease in humans," WHO said in a written statement. "Evidence is strongly pointing to a new virus, or possibly two new viruses, that have not previously been known to infect humans or cause severe disease."
