PRESS BRIEFING ON ‘SARS’ BY WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION OFFICIAL

The potential of the newly identified Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was still not clear, particularly whether it would become a permanent infectious disease, the Executive Director of the Communicable Diseases Cluster of the World Health Organization (WHO), David Heymann, said today at a Headquarters press briefing. According to the WHO, which is coordinating the international investigation, SARS is an atypical pneumonia of unknown origin, which was first recognized at the end of February. The WHO is set to convene scientists from around the globe at the end of this week in Geneva to seek a clearer picture of the infectious disease and consider appropriate global control strategies.