Tourist From S.F. Becomes 1st to Die of AIDS in China

The Public Health Ministry said today that an Argentine tourist from San Francisco has died of AIDS and announced an emergency quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease, never before reported in China.

A ministry report said Oscar Messina, 34, succumbed to a severe lung infection and respiratory failure June 6 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. It said the man became ill while touring China with a San Francisco-based tour group.

“According to his family, the patient was diagnosed in the United States as having contracted AIDS,” said the report by the ministry’s quarantine office.

“China has never had such a case. When this patient was treated and diagnosed, the hospital lacked the necessary facilities,” it said.

Messina, an Argentine citizen who moved to the United States 15 years ago, was with a 21-member San Francisco-based tour group that arrived in Shanghai on May 27, the report said.

It quoted the tour organizer, identified as S. Gitler, as saying Messina had written a will before coming to China.

He became ill May 30 in Nanjing and was admitted to the Peking hospital June 4 with high fever, profuse sweating, coughing, phlegm and shortness of breath, the report said.

“This patient in 10 days contacted many people and contaminated a large area, including some dining utensils and furniture,” it said. “This patient has brought some threat to many of our people.”

Chinese sources said privately that ministry officials are angry that Messina was allowed to tour China without a careful health check and may raise the matter with the U.S. Embassy.