China has managed to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in its vast rural areas, a Chinese medical expert said Monday.
Both confirmed and suspected cases had dropped significantly in rural areas in north China, said Rao Keqin, an epidemic analyst with the SARS analysis team under the Ministry of Health (MOH).
MOH statistics show 75 counties in 15 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities reported 195 clinically confirmed cases of the disease in rural areas of the Chinese mainland from April 26 to May 18.
Of the total, 53 counties are in north China, including 22 in Shanxi, 17 in Hebei and 11 in Inner Mongolia.
Meanwhile, the north China area reported 165 out of the 195 clinically confirmed SARS cases, including 81 in Inner Mongolia, 46 in Shanxi and 27 in Hebei, according to the MOH figures.
Rao said that so far 80 percent of the 75 rural counties had only one to two SARS cases, and most of them had no reported secondary affections.
According to Rao, most of the SARS cases were reported from late April to early May, since migrant workers generally started to return home in the latter half of April.
China reported a record high of 24 cases of the disease in rural areas on May 4, and the number of new cases started to fall on a fluctuating basis from May 10.
In the past five days, the daily average of confirmed cases amounted to two to three in rural areas.
(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2003)
