Southern China grapples with mystery illness

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Southern China grapples with mystery illness

Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Posted: 2:57 AM EST (0757 GMT)

BEIJING, China -- Chinese and Hong Kong authorities are on the alert as a mystery illness sweeps through southern China.

The pneumonia-like sickness has so far killed at least five people and hospitalized around 300, with panicked Chinese flocking to pharmacies to stock up on medicines.

As officials scramble to find the source of the sickness -- which includes fever and coughing -- authorities in the southern province of Guangdong are telling residents not to be scared.

Rumors of hundreds of deaths sparked by the "atypical pneumonia" prompted scores of residents in southern China to buy antibiotics and vinegar.

People in Hong Kong and the Chinese territory of Macau also lined up to buy vinegar. News reports said one Hong Kong shop limited buyers to six bottles each and doubled the price to $2.60.

Many Chinese use vinegar as a disinfectant, and the surge in demand led to a 10 percent rise in the share price of a major producer on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

'Don't be scared'

Hospitals have been given extra antibiotics, which can be used to treat infections that could result as a side effect from viruses.

Local papers on Wednesday quoted a Guangzhou Information Department spokesman as saying the outbreak hit more than a month ago.

Most the cases -- 220 of 305 -- were reported in the Guangdong capital, Guangzhou, with doctors, nurses and other health workers especially hard hit.

"The sicknesses of all the patients are being effectively treated and they are under control," the spokesman said.

"People have no need to be scared."

But Chinese health professionals, including experts sent to Guangdong by Beijing, have yet to isolate the virus causing the outbreak.

'Not anthrax'

In a bid to quell concerns, the government's Xinhua news agency has ruled out an anthrax attack or bubonic plague.

This view was echoed by Hong Kong's director of health, Margaret Chan, who said initial reports showed it was not "anthrax or plague."

Authorities in Hong Kong -- the territory shares a border with the province -- are monitoring the situation and say they have already contacted their counterparts in mainland China for more details.

At least three patients who may have caught the sickness while in Guangdong are being treated in Hong Kong hospitals.

The peak flu season for Hong Kong is January to March.

Soccer match

Across the border, provincial party secretary Zhang Dejiang ordered school children still on Lunar New Year holidays to start classes again next Monday.

But a much-awaited soccer match between China and Brazil on Wednesday evening will still go ahead, he said.

Southern China is a major source of new strains of flu and other viruses that are often traced to the poultry industry.

An outbreak of bird flu in Hong Kong in 1997 killed six people and prompted the territory to slaughter all of its 1.4 million chickens.

In the latest outbreak, officials said while symptoms could worsen quickly, the sickness was generally not life-threatening.

-- CNN senior China analyst Willy Wo-Lap Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report