SARS Case Confirmed in China

Results of laboratory tests have confirmed a case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in a 32-year-old man in the Chinese province of Guangdong.

The patient has been under treatment, in isolation, since December 20, 2003, and is reported to be recovering. This is the first confirmed case of SARS in 2004 and the first not linked to a laboratory accident, as were several cases in Singapore and Taiwan in 2003. The source of infection in the newly confirmed case remains unclear. All contacts have been traced and are reported to be free of symptoms and most have been released from quarantine. Surveillance for additional cases has been intensified in Guangdong and other provinces.

Studies conducted in 2003 detected a SARS-like virus in some animal species, including the masked palm civet, and a retrospective analysis of patient records has linked several early cases to contact with wild animals. As a result, the government of Guandong is moving to eradicate the civet cat, a popular food item. Still, no animal reservoir of the SARS coronavirus has been conclusively identified to date.

The confirmatory tests were conducted in Hong Kong by the University of Hong Kong and the government Virus Unit of the Department of Health. Both are members of the World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland; www.who.int) Multicenter Collaborative Network for SARS Diagnosis that collectively identified the SARS coronavirus in mid-April 2003. Confirmation of positive results by a WHO-designated reference laboratory is required for a definitive diagnosis of SARS.

The first cases of SARS occurred in Guangdong in mid-November 2002. The disease spread internationally, eventually causing more than 8,000 cases and 774 deaths in 27 countries.




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