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Hong Kong virus spreads quickly, leads to global health warning

Hospital Safety Connection, March 20, 2003

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Physicians in Hong Kong this week identified the family of a deadly pneumonia virus that had killed 14 people as of March 19 and put several hundred others in intensive care, Reuters reports.

Most infections are in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, but the virus quickly spread to Singapore, Canada, and Taiwan, with linked cases in the U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia, Spain, and Brunei. The World Health Organization issued its first global health warning in 10 years about the outbreak.

Those affected first have flu-like symptoms but within days could be on a life-support respirator. Some victims of the virus had symptoms linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome. A Hong Kong-based team of medical experts said the virus belongs to the paramyxoviridae family, not the influenza group of viruses.

Despite the death toll, health officials do not expect a high mortality rate, said Hong Kong Health Minister Yeoh Eng-kiong. Two people were discharged in Hong Kong after recovering with treatment by a cocktail of anti-viral drugs and steroids.

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