Close contact includes having cared for

The Centers for illness Control & Prevention on saturday started distributing cards at airfields receiving flights returning at once from HK warning travelers returning to the U.  S.  from hong kong & Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China & Hanoi, Vietnam that they might have received exposure to cases of serious acute respiration syndrome .

The cards are being handed out by quarantine officials at Chicago, O’Hare international airfield ; L.  A.  ; old York city, JFK international airfield ; Newark ; & San Francisco.  These airports are the only U.S.  Airports receiving direct flights from HK.  No U.S.  Airfields receive direct flights from Hanoi or the Guangdong Province.  CDC officers expect to expand the distribution of cards to port, Alaska & the territory of Guam later today.

The cards also offer guidance engineered to aid consultants in making a diagnosis by advising travelers to inform their consultants about up to date travel to the affected regions, & whether they have been in contact with people who displayed symptoms of SARS.

The travel cards warn those returning from the three areas that they should monitor their health for no less than 3 days.  They are also suggested to contact their doctors if they become ill with a fever accompanied by a cough or trouble in breathing.

The CDC advises consultants & other clinicians to stay alert for travelers who:

As of March 15, 2003, the CDC had received reports of SARS cases in HK & Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China ; Hanoi, Vietnam & Canada, Singapore & Thailand.  For that reason the World Health Organization has issued emergency steering for travelers & airlines so that persons displaying signs of the sickness can receive immediate health care & can be brought to the attention of public health authorities.  These individuals are also advised against travelling while ill.

Have a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher ;

one or more indications of respiration sickness including cough, trouble breathing, trouble in breathing, hypoxia ( deficiency in the quantity of oxygen reaching tissues of the body ), X-rays indicating the presence of pneumonia, or breathing distress ; &

one or more of the following:

History of travel to hong kong or Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China, or Hanoi, Vietnam inside a few days of symptom onset ;

Close contact with persons with respiratory illness having the described travel history.  Close contact includes having cared for, lived with, or had direct contact with respiratory secretions & body fluids of an individual with SARS. 

Additionally, airlines should:

Alert the destination airfield of any passengers meeting the case definition standards ;

Arriving passengers who are symptomatic should be referred to health authorities for assessment & care ;

The passengers & crew should provide all contact info for how passengers can be reached for the subsequent fourteen days to airport health authorities. 

Aircraft passengers & crew should be informed of the person’s standing as a suspect case of SARS [*SCO].

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