WHO warns freak bug poses global threat

The World Health Organisation warned of a "worldwide health threat" yesterday after a mystery killer pneumonia bug spread from Asia to Europe.

The flu-like virus – which results in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) – has infected scores of people in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore and killed eight people since it was first detected in China in February.

A WHO spokesman said patients were not responding to normal treatments for pneumonia, and it was not known what the cause of the bug was.

The WHO – which stopped short of advising people against travel – also issued a rare "emergency travel advisory" after a Singapore doctor was removed from a plane in Frankfurt, Germany and placed in quarantine in a hospital while en route from Singapore to New York.

The doctor – who began to exhibit symptoms while in New York and had treated patients with the illness in Singapore – is believed to be the first person in Europe to be infected with the disease. His wife and a colleague were also taken off the flight and admitted to the Wolfgang Goethe University Clinic.

Another 155 passengers on the flight were being held in temporary quarantine at the airport or at home, leaving only 85 passengers and the plane's 20 crew members to continue on their journey. They were to be met by health officials on their arrival.

The WHO says it has received more than 150 reports of the pneumonia in the past week. In Hong Kong 47 medical workers are now infected and surgical masks are selling out in the city.

In Hanoi, 41 people are being treated for the illness and doctors from France and Japan are arriving in Vietnam to help deal with the disease.

In Singapore the number of people with symptoms totals 16 and cases have been reported in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

Gro Harlem Brundtland, the director-general of the WHO said: "SARS, is now a worldwide health threat. The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread."

The WHO said passengers and airline crews needed to be aware of the first symptoms, which include high temperature, coughing and difficulty in breathing.

"As reports of cases are confirmed, you will see that there is a very high attack rate. When people get sick from the virus, they get very sick," Brundtland added.