World News

Fastest-growing SARS outbreak in Taiwan

Taiwan reported a record daily rise of 65 probable cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on May 22, bringing the total to 483, the third highest in the world after China and Hong Kong.

The Department of Health said the death toll had risen by eight to 60 and another 74 people had recovered from the flu-like virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which described the island as having the world's fastest-growing outbreak of SARS, extended its SARS travel warning beyond Taipei to all of Taiwan on May 21, as local officials reported 35 more cases. The WHO had issued a travel warning for Taipei on May 8 but extended it island-wide because of the illness's rapid spread.

In related news, Taiwan's Health Department has confirmed that a Taiwanese doctor who displayed symptoms of SARS after returning to Taipei from a sightseeing tour in Japan has tested positive for SARS.

The 26-year-old man embarked on his trip to Japan on May 8 without showing any symptoms of the illness, but he developed a fever upon his arrival.

The doctor returned to Taiwan on May 12 after spending six days traveling through Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Tokushima and Kagawa prefectures. Fears have been raised that he may have spread the disease during his trip. At present, Japan has no confirmed cases of SARS.

Shukan ST: May 30, 2003

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