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SARS virus can survive for weeks outside human body

AFP, Geneva
New research into the deadly SARS virus shows that it is more resilient than first thought and can survive for weeks outside the human body.
The research, published by the Geneva-based World Health Organisation, suggests that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -- a flu-like epidemic that has killed at least 449 people worldwide -might be able to be spread through contact with contaminated objects and not just through direct contact with an infected person.
The SARS virus can survive for hours on common surfaces outside the human body, and up to four days in human waste, according to the research carried out in laboratories in Hong Kong, Japan and Germany.
At sub-zero temperatures, such as in a regular refrigerator, the virus showed only "minimal reduction" after three weeks.
Scientists found that the disease persists in adult faeces for six hours but in human diarrhoea for up to four days. This could explain the disease's spread in a 33-storey apartment building in Hong Kong where hundreds were infected.
Researchers now suspect it was spread at the Amoy Gardens complex by a SARS-infected man with diarrhoea, via a crack in a sewage pipe.
Densely populated Hong Kong has been badly hit by the virus. Five more SARS fatalities and eight new cases were reported there Sunday, pushing the local toll to 184 deaths and 1,629 infections.
Only mainland China has been worst hit. Beijing took strict measures to contain the SARS outbreak in its capital Sunday, placing close to 16,000 people under quarantine.
China also sacked officials nationwide for failing to implement tough measures to contain the deadly disease as the health ministry reported seven new deaths from the pneumonia-like respiratory illness and 163 new infections. There are now some 197 dead and 4,125 confirmed or probable cases in the world's most populous country.
The capital city Beijing has
borne the brunt of the epidemic in China, with 100 deaths and at least 1,803 known cases.
The good news is that standard disinfectants such as chlorine bleach killed the virus in five minutes, WHO found.
Temperatures of 56 degrees centigrade and above also quickly destroy the virus, the WHO said in a report published on its website on Sunday.
"It's the first time we have hard data on the survival of the virus. Before, we were just speculating," Klaus Stohr, WHO's top SARS scientist, told the Washington Post
"These studies are very important for designing strategies for cleaning and disinfecting."
The new data suggest that infection can occur simply from touching a contaminated table or doorknob, the report said.
Outside of China, SARS deaths and infections appear to be stablilising. Singapore and Taiwan reported one new SARS death each on Sunday, bringing their respective death tolls to 26 and eight, though Singaporean officials said they had included one non-SARS related fatality in its toll.