Alert Raised Over Killer Pneumonia

An unusual and lethal variety of pneumonia that first appeared in Asia but is now travelling the globe has become "a worldwide health threat", according to the World Health Organisation, which issued an unprecedented warning yesterday.

Nine people have now died from the virus, which is alarming public health officials because it does not succumb to the normal drugs. "The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread," said Gro Harlem Brundtland, director general of the WHO.

Yesterday the virus arrived in Europe, after a sick passenger travelling from New York was taken from the plane on arrival in Frankfurt and rushed to hospital, where he and his companions are being kept in isolation.

Although the threat was swiftly contained, the incident demonstrates how easily viruses can spread in an era of fast and frequent global travel.

On Saturday a Vietnamese nurse working in Hanoi became the latest to die of the new strain of pneumonia. "People are not responding to antibiotics or antivirals," said Dick Thompson, a WHO spokesman. "It is a highly contagious disease and it is moving around by jet. It's bad."

The illness caused by the virus is being termed Sars - severe acute respiratory syndrome. The WHO says it has now been notified of more than 150 suspected cases worldwide. It is typified by a high fever and one or more respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, and difficulty in breathing.

The WHO's emergency guidance issued yesterday warned travellers and airline crew to look out for those symptoms in anyone who is flying out of a country where Sars has been reported.

The Department of Health in London echoed the warning.

So far, cases have occurred in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is not yet known whether the passenger taken ill on his way to Frankfurt began his journey in the US or was in transit.

Public health officials are working hard to try to establish the exact nature of the virus and the best treatment. Other symptoms which can be associated with Sars include headache, muscular stiffness, malaise, confusion, rash, and diarrhoea.

The virus first struck in China's southern Guangdong province, where five people died.