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Finn becomes first foreigner to die of SARS in Beijing

A Finnish man died yesterday in Beijing of severe acute respiratory syndrome, becoming the first foreign fatality in China from the disease, the Health Ministry said. It said five more Chinese people also had died, raising mainland China's death toll to 52.

Pekka Aro, 53, showed symptoms of the flu-like disease after flying to Beijing from Thailand on March 23, said Liu Peilong, head of the Health Ministry's Department for International Cooperation. Liu said he was sent to Beijing's Ditan Hospital on April 2, where he died early yesterday.

Aro worked for the International Labor Organization as director of its Skills Development Department, Liu said at a hastily called news conference. The ILO Web site lists him as working at ILO headquarters in Geneva.

Chinese authorities believed Aro caught the disease overseas, said Guo Jiyong, deputy director general of the Beijing Health Bureau. Aro told doctors he believed he caught the disease on the flight from Bangkok, Guo said. No one Aro had contact with in Beijing has shown symptoms, Guo said.

Two people have died from the disease in Thailand, where Aro had stayed for five days. It wasn't known where else he had recently traveled.

Liu said the newest Chinese victims had died since Wednesday, but he didn't give any other details about them. He didn't say where they died, but said most of China's SARS cases were in the southern province of Guangdong.

A second foreigner -- a Canadian -- is hospitalized in Beijing with SARS, Liu said. He didn't give any details about the patient's identity or condition, or say whether the person was a resident of Beijing.

Until now, China has reported 40 deaths in Guangdong, where experts suspect the disease began. The province also accounts for most of China's more than 1,200 people sickened by the disease.

Aro's death raised to five the number of SARS fatalities reported in Beijing. Three also have been announced in the Guangxi region to Guangdong's west.

The quick announcement of Aro's death was a striking change from the communist government's earlier reluctance to release information about SARS. Foreign officials and ordinary Chinese have complained about delays.

The government promised Saturday to release more information and to create a national disease warning system. That came after the country's top disease-prevention official issued a highly unusual apology for "poor coordination" in keeping the world and the Chinese public informed.

Beijing city health workers disinfected Aro's residence immediately after he was discovered to have the illness, Liu said. He didn't clarify whether that was a hotel or a private home.

Health workers were monitoring people who had contact with Aro to guard against further infections, Liu said. All those aboard Aro's flight from Bangkok -- Thai Airways flight TG614 -- have been contacted and checked for symptoms, said Guo, of the Beijing Health Bureau.

Liu said other patients were receiving treatment in hospitals and one person has recovered and been released.

It wasn't clear whether Liu was referring to patients just in Beijing or across China.

"Their illness is basically under control. Quite a few patients have taken obvious turns for the better," Liu said.

James Maguire, a member of a World Health Organization investigation team visiting Guangdong, said Aro's death showed the disease cut across national and ethnic lines.

"I think people, wherever they come from, are at risk," said Maguire, an epidemiologist from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He declined to comment further and said he had not been familiar with Aro's case.

The four members of the WHO team met yesterday with officials of the Guangdong provincial Center for Disease Control, said team spokesman Chris Powell. One member also visited a hospital in Guangdong's capital, Guangzhou.

The WHO team, which includes specialists who work in the United States, Germany, Wales and Bangladesh, planned to stay in Guangdong through Tuesday.

SARS has killed at least 96 people and sickened more than 2,300 in more than a dozen countries. Symptoms include high fever, aches, dry cough and shortness of breath. No cure has been found, although Chinese doctors said they have successfully treated cases with a mixture of Western and traditional Chinese medicines.
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