Australia's health system is on alert for SARS

Australia's health system is on alert to detect any possible cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) following reports of four possible SARS cases in China, including one death.

The cases in China appear to be confined to hospitals and laboratories. There is no evidence of transmission in the general community or to tourists in China. While there is a low risk of a person arriving in Australia with SARS, it is prudent for Australian health authorities to actively monitor the situation in China and take appropriate precautions.

Yesterday afternoon I called a teleconference of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia to advise them of the current situation in China and to discuss appropriate actions that should be immediately taken to ensure the Australia health system is prepared to deal with a possible imported case of SARS.

Hospitals in all Australian States and Territories have been advised to enact SARS infection control procedures on patients who have recently arrived from Beijing or the Anhui Province of China who have a temperature of over 38C and are showing the symptoms of SARS.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, on the advice of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, has issued updated travel advice urging Australian travellers to continue to observe precautions to safeguard their health. The bulletin and travel advice can be viewed at www.smartraveller.gov.au.

Australian health officials are closely monitoring reports from the World Health Organization of the four suspected SARS cases. These are the first cases of severe illness and secondary spread of SARS since the 2003 outbreak. All cases have been either directly exposed to the virus in a laboratory or are close contacts of cases.

To protect Australia from imported cases of SARS, all arriving international passengers currently receive a health advice sheet prior to disembarking. This sheet ensures a high level of awareness is maintained about SARS and other communicable diseases and advises travellers to alert the health system in the event of illness, and to notify doctors of their travel history.

Australia is well prepared for the re-emergence of SARS. Australian health and border authorities remain alert and ready to implement enhanced protection measures should the situation change and related cases of SARS emerge.

More details about SARS can be found on the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing website www.health.gov.au or the WHO website www.who.int