Last two SARS patients leave Chinese hospital

China's last two SARS patients Sun Zheng, center, and Lu Zhiyan, left, celebrate during a ceremony in Beijing yesterday as they walked out of the hospital. PHOTO: AP

A college student and a medical worker, identified by the government as China's last two SARS patients, walked out of a hospital yesterday morning to a flower-drenched reception -- and not a single surgical mask in sight.

But officials warned that the fight goes on to figure out the mysterious disease.

Sun Zheng, 19, and Lu Zhiyan, 45, walked out into the sweltering heat to greet a crowd of doctors, nurses and government officials. A grinning Sun hugged a nurse and flashed the peace sign as workers at Ditan Hospital applauded.

"Because of you, I am standing here today," Sun told them. Both he and Lu had been hospitalized since April.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome killed 800 people worldwide before subsiding in June. In China, more than 5,300 people were infected and 349 died.

Ditan Hospital treated more than 300 SARS patients since March -- including some of its own medical workers, who were infected while treating victims.

"It hasn't been an easy five months," said nurse Zhao Chunmei. "For so long, we didn't know what was happening."

"SARS has been a harsh lesson for us all. But harsh lessons make good teachers."

Dr. Henk Bekedam, WHO representative in China

Beijing stores and restaurants closed their doors as SARS spread in April and May. Many people fled to the countryside, while others walked the streets in surgical masks.

But the city has bounded back.

"We are winning," said Niu Youcheng, an administrator at Beijing's Health Department.

"This fight against SARS has brought our society to a new level and made us more able," he said. "But we must continue our anti-SARS work just as diligently as we have so far."

The Chinese government declared SARS under control last month after the World Health Organization (WHO) lifted a months-old warning on travel to Beijing.

But medical investigators, who believe the virus jumped from animals to humans, say it could remain rampant among wildlife. Researchers have warned the disease could re-emerge when cold weather returns.

"An important chapter has been closed," said Dr. Henk Bekedam, WHO representative in China.

But he warned that much about the illness is still unknown, that perils still lurk, and that countries must give health care equal priority with economic development.

"SARS has been a harsh lesson for us all. But harsh lessons make good teachers," Bekedam said.

Yesterday, a team of WHO and Chinese government officials were in the southern province of Guangzhou, where SARS first surfaced in November, exploring links between wild animals and the virus.

The government recently lifted restrictions on the sale and trade of 54 wildlife species, including the civet cat -- a weasel-like mammal found to carry SARS.

The move reflects economic reality in southern China, where wild animals are a traditional delicacy. But international health officials worry the move may be premature, given how little they know about how -- or whether -- the virus hopped from animals to humans.

"There have been some very clear indications that the civet cat is linked," Bekedam said after a ceremony for the last two patients leaving the hospital. "We think it's a little early to lift the restrictions."