Results from laboratory tests over the weekend have led the Ministry of Health of China and the World Health Organization (WHO) to upgrade the suspected SARS case in southern China to a laboratory-confirmed case.
The latest results were obtained from virus neutralization antibody tests carried out by two laboratories in Hong Kong SAR, China, that are part of the WHO international laboratory reference network, as well as by a laboratory under the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing.
The virus neutralization tests from all three laboratories indicate that the male patient, a 32-year-old television producer in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, has recently been exposed to a SARS coronavirus (CoV).
However, WHO would like to reiterate the following:
* One confirmed SARS case does not constitute an immediate public-health risk.
* It is perfectly safe for members of the public to travel to Guangdong
Province.
* There is no evidence of a spread of infection from the patient to date. All
the 81 identified contacts are reported to be well.
* Health authorities in Guangdong Province, together with the Ministry of Health
of China and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, have treated
this case all along as though it was SARS, using the system established
following the outbreak of 2003 (including the tracing, isolation and medical
observation of contacts).
* Health authorities in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong have worked together to
implement safety measures in the area, in terms of travel, temperature checking
and other steps in the wake of this case in Guangzhou.
* Health authorities have been using this case as a way to determine how well
the current surveillance system works, and a review of the process so far in
this case is already under way.
The Ministry of Health of China has been providing WHO with information daily on
this case, and we welcome the opportunity to assist China as it tackles this
situation.