Australia put on SARS alert

Health authorities in Australia have been put on alert to detect possible cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Health authorities in Australia have been put on alert to detect possible cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).Australia’s chief medical officer, professor John Horvath, says he called a meeting with the Communicable Diseases network yesterday afternoon following reports of four suspected SARS cases in China, one resulting in death.Professor Horvath says they are the first reports of the disease since the outbreak of SARS last year.He says while the risk of someone infected with SARS coming to Australia is very low, health authorities need to be aware of the possibility.Professor Horvath says the warning is for general practitioners, public health laboratories and emergency departments.”All the places someone with a respiratory illness could come and perhaps look as though they’ve got something a little more simple like pneumonia and in fact not be treated appropriately, not be tested for SARS,” he said.(Source: ABC Health News, April 2004)