Mystery illness slows Hong Kong activity

HONG KONG -- Fear gripped Hong Kong as the number of people suffering from a deadly flu-like disease increased sharply Saturday. Thousands of people donned surgical masks but many more refused to venture out and activity in the usually bustling city ground to a halt.

Also, the first doctor to realize that the world was dealing with an unfamiliar disease died of the illness in Thailand on Saturday. Italian Dr. Carlo Urbani, 46, a World Health Organization expert on communicable diseases, became infected while working in Vietnam, where he diagnosed an American businessman hospitalized in Hanoi, Vietnam, the U.N. agency said. The businessman later died.

Since then severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, has claimed more than 50 lives around the world and sickened almost 1,500 people, mostly in Asia. There were 59 cases of SARS in the United States and at least 35 in Canada, where three people have died.

On Saturday, Hong Kong reported 45 new cases and another death -- an 82-year-old man whose health was poor before he became infected. SARS now has killed 12 people in Hong Kong and sickened 470.

Figures released late Friday showed 58 new cases, Hong Kong's biggest one-day increase since the WHO issued a global health alert this month. There were 51 a day earlier.

Many of the new cases involved residents of a single apartment complex; health officials are unsure why.

Worldwide, the biggest numbers of cases and deaths have been in China's Guangdong province, where an earlier outbreak began in November.

Drag on economy

On Saturday, thousands of Hong Kong residents were wearing surgical masks around town, but many were not going around at all, slowing down an already feeble economy.

Taxi stands where people normally line up during rush hour had few customers in sight. Schools were closed, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., the biggest lender in town, shut part of a floor in its main office Saturday because a worker became sick.

The Bank of China also closed a branch Saturday for a thorough cleaning after a staff member fell ill. Several other companies have done the same.

The Rolling Stones put off what would have been their first concerts in mainland China after postponing two shows this weekend in Hong Kong.

Anti-war protesters in Hong Kong canceled a peace rally.

Some airplane crews on Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's largest airline, were wearing masks, and spokeswoman Maria Yu said some flights might be cut.

Nations across Asia are fighting to contain the illness. Singapore, which has had two deaths, nearly doubled the number of people quarantined to more than 1,500 on Friday.

Australia advised its citizens Saturday to reconsider traveling to Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Vietnam -- the four places in Asia that have suffered SARS deaths -- if they were worried about the disease.

Taiwan said Saturday its SARS cases had risen from 10 to 12. Officials handed out 100,000 free surgical masks to travelers and employees at its main international airport, which was being disinfected.

In Toronto, health officials declared an emergency and said Friday that international travelers flying out of the city will be screened for SARS symptoms.

The U.S. State Department has urged American travelers to watch for symptoms of the disease, including a fever above 100.4 degrees and signs of respiratory illness such as cough or shortness of breath.

Hong Kong health secretary Dr. Yeoh Eng-kiong said Friday that more residents likely will become sick, even though quarantine measures have been imposed on more than 1,000 people.

Nine Hong Kong doctors, nurses and medical students who had the disease and were discharged Saturday said they are living proof that SARS isn't unbeatable.

Dr. Raymond Wong said he wanted to tell Hong Kong that "this is not an incurable disease."

The illness appears to have originated in mainland China, which has been criticized for being slow in reporting some 800 cases and 34 deaths. WHO officials who went to China to investigate the disease said Beijing now has promised to better monitor the illness, with daily updates from every province.