By Liz Kresse
April 14, 2003

Despite a rising number of reported cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) worldwide, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Julie Gerberding, testified before the Senate appropriations health subcommittee April 8, that the CDC is working aggressively to prevent new cases. As of April 7, there were 149 suspected cases of SARS in the United States and more than 2,600 worldwide. In response to the new disease, CDC has:

• Activated its Emergency Operations Center to provide round-the-clock coordination and response.
• Committed more than 250 medical experts and support staff to work on the SARS response.
• Deployed medical officers, epidemiologists, and other specialists to assist with on'site investigations around the world.
• Provided ongoing assistance to state and local health departments in investigating possible cases of SARS in the United States.
• Conducted extensive laboratory testing of clinical specimens from SARS patients to identify the cause of the disease.
• Initiated a system for distributing health alert notices to travelers who may have been exposed to cases of SARS.
• Worked with airlines to determine appropriate procedures if a suspected SARS patient is on board a flight, including what protections are needed for workers on the plane and how the plane might be decontaminated.

Despite these measures, Dr. Gerberding cautioned that the illness will be very difficult to contain on a global level since other nations may not be responding to SAR as well as the United States.

SARS is a respiratory illness that usually begins with a fever (temperature greater than 100.4¡F). The fever is sometimes associated with chills or other symptoms, including headache, a general feeling of discomfort, and body aches. Some people also experience mild respiratory symptoms at the outset. Two to seven days after being exposed to the virus (the typical incubation period for SARS), patients may develop a dry cough and have trouble breathing. In 10-20 percent of cases, patients will require mechanical ventilation in order to breathe. One reassuring finding is that about 4 percent of those who contract SARS die — a lower mortality rate than CDC officials first thought. SARS is most likely spread through cough droplets in the air or from touching objects that have become contaminated. For more comprehensive information that is updated frequently, please visit the CDC's SAR website at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars for streamlining environmental reviews and would expand projects eligible for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act by reducing the eligibility from $100 million to $50 million.