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A senior official of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that China has made great efforts to contain severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
David Heymann, executive director for communicable diseases of WHO, made the remarks at a press conference on the sidelines of the special summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is aimed at a joint strategy to fight the disease.
"China is fully engaged in fighting SARS," Heymann told some 150 journalists at the Thai Foreign Ministry, after giving a briefing on the development of the killer disease in the world.
Heymann stressed that international cooperation is needed. He noted that the disease spread rapidly as it was initially suspected to be another kind of flu, adding that the virus might have originated in animals and then transmitted to human beings.
He called the international community to join the fight against SARS, saying the disease in one country concerned the whole world.
Answering a question about whether the reported development of some drugs on SARS virus by American scientists represents real headway, he said the antibodies might be effective for some people, but really effective vaccine could still be years away.
(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2003)
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