Investigations are underway after an unconfirmed illness killed
17 farm workers and left at least 12 in a critical condition in
hospital in southwest China's Sichuan
Province in the past few weeks.?
Zeng Huajin, a senior official with the provincial health
department, said it was "probably" caused by Streptococcus suis, a
bacteria usually spread among pigs.?
"I can assure you that the disease is absolutely not SARS
(severe acute respiratory syndrome), anthrax or bird flu," the
official said last night.?
"We still need further research to confirm whether it was caused
by Streptococcus suis," he added.?
An initial 20 farm workers who handled sick or dead pigs and
sheep in 12 towns and 15 villages in Jianyang City and Ziyang
City's Yanjiang District suffered from high fever, nausea, vomiting
and hemorrhaging.?
But more cases were reported as health workers began to search
villages for the sick.?
"By noon on Saturday, 58 people suspected of having the disease
had been reported in Ziyang and (neighboring) Neijiang," according
to a statement last night from the province's health
department.?
"Two of them have been discharged from hospital while 27 are
recovering," the statement said, adding that the patients were from
49 villages of 23 townships and not related to each
other.?
Zeng said Streptococcus suis could not spread among humans, and
normally only those with a weak immune system became ill.?
The health and agriculture ministries sent a special team to
Sichuan last week to assist in the investigation, treatment and
control of the outbreak, but were not available for comment
yesterday.?
"This is a good job of disease surveillance, and shows China has
vastly improved its system since the SARS period in 2003," WHO
spokesperson Bob Dietz was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.?
A physician at Ziyang No.1 People's Hospital said yesterday that
people could quickly become ill and doctors were busy carrying out
emergency treatment.?
All patients were reportedly being treated at three hospitals in
Ziyang.?
Yesterday, Hong Kong put out an alert relating to the disease,
but Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow said frozen
pork from Sichuan is safe to eat.?
He confirmed that no live pigs are imported from the province
into the territory and that frozen pork imports come via designated
companies with permits from Hong Kong health authorities.
?
According to the UK Health Protection Agency, Streptococcus suis is
endemic in most pig-rearing countries, but only about 150 cases of
human infection have been reported until now and they are thought
to take place mainly via cuts or abrasions when handling infected
carcasses.
(China Daily July 25, 2005)
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