O.C. Lists 2 SARS Cases

Orange County health officials announced the first cases of SARS Wednesday in two people who recently traveled separately to China, bringing the state total to 31.

Neither is very ill, said Dr. Hildy Meyers, medical director of assessment and epidemiology for the Orange County Health Care Agency, but they have been asked to stay at home until 10 days after their symptoms disappear to ensure they don’t spread the disease.

Ventura County also reported its first case this week, in a woman in her 60s who recently returned from Asia.

The greatest number of cases of the mysterious pneumonia-like disease in California have been reported in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties, with seven each. Other Southern California counties that have reported SARS cases are Santa Barbara and Riverside, with one each. None of the 85 reported U.S. cases has been fatal, but the disease has killed 78 people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.

Of the 2,223 cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome reported globally, 85% have been in China or Hong Kong, according to the organization.

Orange County health officials had investigated a handful of SARS cases, but none had fit the criteria. SARS is difficult to diagnose because scientists don’t know its cause. For that reason, all cases are considered “suspected.”

Dr. Debra Gilliss, a public health medical officer with the state Department of Health Services, said that once a diagnostic test is developed, some cases will turn out not to have been SARS.

The Orange County cases involve one person in their 40s, another in their 60s. The illnesses were reported to the Health Care Agency late last week or early this week, Meyers said, and they were reported to public health agencies as SARS cases late Tuesday. County health officials would not provide more information about the victims, citing patient confidentiality.

The Ventura County patient turned up at an emergency room Saturday with a high fever and respiratory problems, said Marilyn Billimek, a county public health nurse.

The woman told doctors about her travels and suspected she had contracted SARS. She was hospitalized in an isolation ward for three days and released Tuesday, and is under instructions to stay inside for a couple of weeks, Billimek said.

SARS symptoms are similar to many other illnesses. They include fatigue, a temperature of more than 100.5 degrees, coughing, difficulty breathing and an abnormal chest X-ray. The illness is suspected only in people who have traveled in the last 10 days to a country where SARS has been reported or who have been in close contact with someone who has it.

When trying to identify a SARS case, doctors test to determine if another illness is responsible, such as influenza, Legionnaires disease or respiratory syncytial virus.

Meyers said the cause of many respiratory infections often is not discovered. Scientists say SARS may be caused by a previously unknown coronavirus, a member of the family that causes colds and other respiratory illnesses.

The Centers for Disease Control have advised people not to travel to China, Hanoi, Singapore or Hong Kong, where the illness is most prevalent.

There is no specific treatment for SARS, other than treating the symptoms and placing patients on a respirator, if needed.

Anyone suspected of having SARS should wear a surgical mask around others, and visitors should wear masks, Meyers said. After having contact with a SARS patient, people should wash their hands and disinfect items the patient has touched.

U.S. public health officials are trying to reassure the public there is no need to panic about the disease and that all U.S. cases are related to Asian travel. But signs of worry have emerged. Some shoppers are avoiding Asian American commercial hubs, such as Orange County’s Little Saigon and Monterey Park in Los Angeles County.

None of that was helped by the spectacle Tuesday at San Jose International Airport, where county health officials left an American Airlines jet from Tokyo and its 139 passengers and crew on the tarmac for two hours, fearing that three travelers had SARS. It turned out to be a false alarm.

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Times staff writer Catherine Saillant contributed to this report.