HANOI, Vietnam (March 15) - The World Health Organization warned a mysterious form of pneumonia was becoming a ''worldwide health threat'' Saturday, as a case of the illness was detected in Europe for the first time.
In a rare ''emergency travel advisory,'' the health agency said it has received more than 150 reports of acute respiratory syndrome in the past week.
On Saturday, a doctor believed to have the atypical form of pneumonia was taken off a New York to Singapore flight during a stopover in Germany and quarantined in a Frankfurt hospital. His two travel companions also were hospitalized.
Most cases of the illness involve medical workers in east Asia but the illness has shown signs of spreading. At least eight people have died from it, including an American businessman.
''Until we can get a grip on it, I don't see how it will slow down,'' WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said in Geneva. ''People are not responding to antibiotics or antivirals, it's a highly contagious disease and it's moving around by jet. It's bad.''
The unidentified doctor, who is from Singapore, had treated a patient with the illness before traveling to New York to attend a conference, said Dr. Angela Wirtz, a health official in the German state of Hessen. He began to suffer symptoms while in New York, she said in a statement.
Two people accompanying him also were taken off the Singapore Airlines flight and admitted to the Wolfgang Goethe University Clinic in Frankfurt, the statement said.
There was concern the doctor may have infected others on board. Another 155 passengers who deplaned in Frankfurt were being temporarily held in quarantine at the airport, the statement said.
Eighty-five people bound for Singapore and the plane's 20-member crew continued their journey, but they will be quarantined on their arrival in Singapore, health officials said.
The WHO, which sent the advisory to airlines, urged travelers who may have come in contact with someone infected to watch for symptoms such as high fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
The advisory did not call for restrictions on travel to any destination but said people who suspect they may have the illness should seek medical attention and should not travel until they recover.
The illness is a ''worldwide health threat,'' said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO's director general. ''The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread.''
Outbreaks of the disease have been reported in southern China, Hong Kong and Singapore. Unconfirmed new cases have been reported in Vietnam and Taiwan.
A team of epidemiologists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Hanoi on Saturday to gather samples from people who may be infected.
The Hanoi outbreak started after an American businessman traveling from Shanghai via Hong Kong apparently infected up to 30 hospital workers, five of them listed in critical condition. The unidentified U.S. citizen was evacuated and died in Hong Kong.
In Canada, a woman and her son died in Toronto soon after they arrived from Hong Kong. Four of their relatives have been hospitalized.
''What is very important is infection control, which needs to be put in place,'' said Pascale Brudon, the World Health Organization's representative in Vietnam. ''We need to understand much more about what this disease is and how patients are reacting to different treatment.''
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