Hong Kong police launched a manhunt on Friday for hundreds of people who were exposed to a deadly respiratory virus as World Health Organisation (WHO) experts tried to nail down the disease’s source in southern China. ‘‘If our Health Department colleagues think these people may infect other people, we’ll use minimal force to send them to hospital for treatment,’’ a police spokesman said. The tough measure came after more than 10 employees at Hong Kong’s United Christian Hospital contracted the disease from a patient, raising fears a new wave of infections was beginning even as the epidemic spread across Asia. Hong Kong reported 27 new cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) on Friday, bringing its total to 761, the highest number of infections after mainland China’s nearly 1,200 cases. Shanghai said it had one confirmed SARS infection. More countries imposed tougher restrictions on visitors on Friday to try to stem the spread of the disease, which scientists say is caused by a previously unknown virus that might have originated in animals. Thailand added Canada to its list of high-risk areas and said its doctors would board all flights from there on arrival to test passengers for symptoms. Canada has the third highest number of cases and has had seven deaths. Japan urged citizens to exercise caution on trips to areas including Singapore, Hanoi, Taiwan, Macau and Toronto. In Hong Kong, police hunted members of 113 families who had fled an apartment block in Kowloon after a sudden outbreak there. The remaining residents were quickly quarantined and shipped to isolation camps. Health officials believe everyone who had been living in Block E of Amoy Gardens was infected, and could be spreading the disease. The government has urged them to turn themselves in but few have responded. Scientists from the World Health Organisation, which has warned against travel to southern China and Hong Kong because of the disease, were in Guangdong on Friday hunting for clues to the source of the virus. ‘‘We know that it’s the same disease because China is now in line with the rest of the world in its case definition,’’ said WHO spokesman Chris Powell. Concern over SARS has even reached the remote South Pacific. Chinese travellers are now barred from entering Tahiti and other idyllic islands, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported, quoting French Polynesia’s President Gaston Flosse. But WHO scientist Osman David Mansoor said the epidemic was ‘‘almost certainly over’’ in Singapore but one to two weeks were needed before anyone could confidently know for sure. In Australia, three Canadian children were isolated in a hospital with one diagnosed as probably having the disease. (Reuters)
