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WHO: SARS in China 'linked to STD'
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- A common sexually transmitted disease appears to have teamed up with a virus to cause the deadly form of pneumonia known as SARS, at least in the cases in China, a World Health Organization spokesman said Friday. SARS -- severe acute respiratory syndrome -- is "one virus acting with other things, and in China it happens to be chlamydia," WHO spokesman Chris Powell confirmed Friday. Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted bacterial infection that can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, a cause of female infertility. But one form of the disease can lead to pneumonia. In the United States, none of the SARS cases so far seems to show evidence of chlamydia. SARS first appeared in the Guangdong province of China, where WHO investigators have been meeting with "senior provincial health officials" and "health workers at all levels," the WHO said. WHO investigators have only recently been granted access to the region, which has a history of unusual viral outbreaks that can be traced back to animals. The apparent connection between the bacterial infection chlamydia and the virus that causes SARS was first discovered last February when Chinese officials said they found chlamydia in the lungs of SARS victims. SARS -- characterized by high fever and breathing difficulties -- has infected more than 2,300 people and killed 79 around the world, according to the WHO. It has spread to 16 countries. Researchers say SARS probably began spreading from Guangdong -- where there have been at least 1,000 cases -- to other countries in mid-February. Dr. Julie Gerberding of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said health officials are investigating the disease with "unprecedented speed." Victims of SARS typically have a temperature of greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38.0 degrees Celsius) and display other signs of respiratory illness, including cough, shortness of breath, and difficulty in breathing. Their X-rays sometimes indicate pneumonia. "With the addition of the first probable case in Brazil, SARS is now being reported on four continents," the WHO's Web site said. -- CNN Correspondent Andrew Brown and CNN Producer Steven Jiang contributed to this report
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