Medical experts gather for SARS talks in Malaysia

A delegate has his temperature taken during the World Health Organisation Global Conference on SARS in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. More than a thousand scientists, doctors and government officials began a two-day conference in an attempt to find causes and cures for the mysterious and deadly virus. PHOTO: AFP

More 1,000 scientists, doctors and government officials began a two-day conference here yesterday in an attempt to find causes and cures for the mysterious and deadly SARS virus.

The conference has been organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), which has led global efforts to control what it calls the first major international epidemic of the 21st century.

"The purpose of this meeting is to review the scientific findings on SARS and examine whether current control measures are effective or not," said WHO regional director for Western Pacific Shigeru Omi.

"We will discuss whether SARS can be eradicated, see if there is an animal reservoir and see whether there is room for improvement of the current control measures."

Omi in an opening address that the SARS epidemic "is coming under control but the fight is by no means over."

Much needed to be done on the production of vaccines and anti-viral drugs and increasing the sensitivity of diagnostic tests, he said.

"We hope in the next few months we are in a position to say the box is now closed. What we need to ensure, though, is that the box is closed tight."

Mark Salter, WHO technical officer

SARS killed nearly 800 people and infected around 8,500 since it first emerged in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong in November last year.

Scientists traced the illness to a new type of the coronavirus, which is from the family that causes the common cold, but a vaccine or cure for the illness is years away.

On the origins of the pneumonia-like disease, Omi said: "I think the WHO has enough evidence that SARS began in Guangdong.

"In regards to whether it is from animal or not, no confirmation has been made. We are collaborating with China to make a final decision," he said.

He said the statistics reported by the Chinese government, which was accused of a cover-up in the early days of the outbreak, were "reliable."

"There is strong political commitment by the government," he said.

Geneva-based WHO technical officer Mark Salter said ahead of the conference that the WHO hoped that within a few months the SARS outbreak would be completely under control.

"We hope in the next few months we are in a position to say the box is now closed," he said. "What we need to ensure, though, is that the box is closed tight, but to do that we still need a lot more information about the virus, the disease and how the disease spreads among the population."