3 Medical Workers May Have SARS

Three U.S. medical workers who cared for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome may have contracted the new contagious disease that has spread from Asia to the United States and elsewhere, officials said Wednesday.

Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said officials are particularly convinced that one worker, identified over the weekend, has the disease.

“We’re confident it will turn out to be a true case,” she said.

Two other workers have only mild symptoms and may wind up dropping off the list of suspected cases, officials said.

Health-care workers were among the early victims of the disease as it began to spread in Asia. Gerberding said the CDC has determined that only about 4% of those who contract SARS die -- a lower mortality rate than officials initially thought.

“Most people do seem to recover,” she said.

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday there is not yet a need for a quarantine of SARS patients in this country.

Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Fauci noted that President Bush recently signed an executive order adding SARS to the list of diseases for which a quarantine could be imposed.

But Fauci said that would not necessarily happen: “Right now, things seem to be under reasonably good control.”

As of Wednesday, there were 154 suspected cases of SARS in the United States and more than 2,600 worldwide.

Gerberding said officials are working with airlines to determine how best to respond to possible new SARS cases, including the most effective ways to decontaminate planes.