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Sars virus becoming more virulent, warn researchers

          Hong Kong, Apr 23: The worst fears of those researching the Sars virus seem to have come true. The deadly virus has apparently mutated and has started attacking the intestines as well as the respiratory system, a leading microbiologist said on a Hong Kong radio station recently. Professor Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University is one of the microbiologists at the forefront of the Hong Kong research into the Sars virus, which killed another five people in the territory on Tuesday, bringing the total deaths to 99, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

           The new warnings come amid growing concern that the virus is becoming more virulent, with many doctors noting changes in the way the disease behaves and who it kills. A number of deaths over the past week have occurred in younger, previously healthy people - one being a 34-year-old pregnant women. An increasing number of those infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) are now suffering from diarrhoea. As many of two-thirds of the residents who contracted Sars in the outbreak at the Amoy Gardens high-rise had diarrhoea, according to health officials.

           Dr Tom Buckley, the head of the intensive care unit at Hong Kong's Princess Margaret Hospital, said organ failure was also now becoming more common. The biggest concern now is next door China where the virus is spreading into many regional centres that are ill-equipped to handle the growing public health crisis. Henry Niman, a Harvard University instructor who teaches surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, warned that Hong Kong's proximity to mainland China will complicate its efforts to fight Sars because the illness appears to be spreading rapidly there.

           Hong Kong health secretary EK Yeoh said he believed Sars would not go away and the government had to concentrate on controlling it. "We do not anticipate that it will be eradicated completely because this virus is highly infectious," he said. "So our primary task is to reduce the size of the viral load in the community and prevent outbreaks."

WHO warns against travel to Toronto and Beijing (Go To Top)

          London, Apr 23: Travellers should avoid Toronto, Beijing and China's Shanxi province because of the danger of Sars, the World Health Organization said Wednedsay. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government said the Sars virus had killed six more people and infected 24 more in the territory. The latest figures bring the local death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) to 105 and the total number of cases to 1,458. The flu-like disease, which is widely believed to been originated in southern China, hit Hong Kong in March and has been spread around the world by travellers.

           China has also recorded nine more Sars deaths, seven of them in Beijing, and 147 new cases. Of the total new cases 105 were in Beijing, taking the capital's cumulative number of confirmed Sars cases to 693 and its death toll to 35. The other fatalities occurred in Guangdong province and Ningxia autonomous region. China now has 106 Sars deaths and 2,305 cases as of April 22, the health ministry said.

US, N Korea begin nuclear talks in China (Go To Top)

          Beijing Apr 23: US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly sat down for talks on Wednesday with North Korea aimed at resolving a standoff over Pyongyang's suspected nuclear weapons programme, a media report said on Wednesday. Diplomats said the first formal face-off between Washington and Pyongyang since the crisis began last October was likely to yield only plans for more talks.

           US embassy spokeswoman said the three-day talks were going forward as planned, but declined to give any details. North Korea wants a security guarantee from the United States and says it needs a powerful deterrent to stave off the threat of attack. Washington says Pyongyang must scrap its nuclear programme before it will offer a guarantee.

30 killed, 300 injured in Assam storm (Go To Top)

         Guwahati, Apr 23: At least 30 people were killed and more than 300 injured in a severe cyclone that lashed Assam overnight, police sources said Wednesday. Most of the fatalities occurred when houses caved in during the storm, which was accompanied by fierce winds, burying families under mounds of debris. All the casualties were in Assam's Dhubri district, bordering Bangladesh, some 300 km from Guwahati.

Truckers end nation-wide strike (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Apr 23: Truckers on Wednesday called off a ten-day strike that paralysed freight movement nationwide following talks with the government. "The strike has been ended across the country," said Gopal Naidu, a member of the negotiating team of the All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), the country's biggest truck union with 2.7 million vehicles in its fold. Naidu would not give any details about the settlement with the government.

           The strike, which business groups estimate cost wholesalers, retailers and industry 15 billion rupees a day, crippled deliveries, created food shortages, paralysed ports and halted component shipments to factories. The AIMTC launched the strike to back demands that included calls for a halt to frequent fuel price hikes, immunity from a planned Value Added Tax, an end to toll fees and minimum freight rates.

Vohra continues peace parleys in Srinagar (Go To Top)

          Srinagar, Apr 23: Continuing his talks with political groups in Jammu and Kashmir, federal interlocutor NN Vohra on Wednesday held talks with leaders of Jammu and Kashmir Awami National Conference (JKANC). Vohra has begun a series of talks with political groups across the political spectrum to propose measures to end more than a decade of militancy that has killed at least 38,000 people. Vohra met a four-member delegation of JKANC led by its general secretary Mohammad Shafi in Srinagar. Talking to reporters after the hour-long meeting, JKANC secretary GR Khan said the federal government should treat Kashmir problem as an international issue and not divert attention to administrative measures.

           Vohra is on a week-long visit to the state to hold talks with different political parties and groups in the state. Hurriyat, an umbrella group of 23 separatist parties, and a prominent separatist leader Shabir Shah have already ruled out meeting Vohra. Vohra is the second interlocutor appointed by New Delhi after Planning Commission deputy chairman KC Pant's mission did not make much headway.