The last SARS patient was discharged from hospital in Guangdong on Jan 21st. Quarantines in nine bird flu affected areas in Guangdong Province were lifted by the People's Republic of China's Ministry of Agriculture ahead of the re-opening of Shenzhen Safari Park on March 9th. During these two campaigns, no human death was reported and, to date, there have been no new SARS or bird flu cases in Guangdong.

Mr. Luo, a recovered SARS patient, wrote a public letter saying the government controlled the epidemic well. He also praised the SARS therapy he received. In the Guangzhou Public Opinion Research Center's bird flu survey, more than 80% of citizens said they did not fear bird flu.

Despite the threat posed by the epidemics, Guangdong's GDP in the first half of the year hit almost 696 billion Yuan, with decade-high 15.1% growth.

These epidemics were promptly reported and controlled and citizens had up-to-date news, resulting in social stability. The economy also saw rapid growth. This was driven by the Government's proper management and sanitation network, specializing in disease prevention and control, contagious disease rescue and treatment and proper health law enforcement.

The formation of effective systems to fight disease - During the campaign against SARS, Guangdong shaped an effective system against epidemic disease. This included the preliminary 'zero report' mechanism, which required local health authorities to deliver a daily SARS report even if no cases were identified. There was an 'early alert' mechanism and the system worked on the principle that people who had had contact with confirmed cases were quarantined and subject to medical inspection. This system of early diagnosis, quick reporting, swift quarantine and prompt treatment worked well in fighting bird flu.

The public sanitation network comprises a number of plans and protocols, including the Guangdong SARS Control and Test Early Alert Plan, Guangdong Public Health Emergency Methods, the Guangdong School and Nursery SARS¡¡Control and Protection Guide, the Guangdong Public Place Control and Protection Guide, the Guangdong Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu Prevention and Cure Emergency Preplan, the Guangdong Bird-Flu-Affected Human Prevention and Cure Emergency Preplan, and Guangdong High Pathogenic Bird Flu Prevention and Cure Finance Management Temporary Methods, among others. These protocols were carried out systematically from last year and became more mature and effective.

On Jan 2nd, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Health received an urgent report from the national health ministry, confirming the civet cat as the carrier of the SARS virus. Over the next five days, Guangdong destroyed a total of 3949 civets and banned the eating of wild civets, preventing the spread of SARS from its original source.

Under the same system, the province promptly quarantined the nine bird-flu affected places, slaughtered some 614,000 birds and immunized more than 2.1 million birds living near the affected area. No bird-to-human case has been reported.

A strong medical team - Citizens' confidence during this time also came from Guangdong's excellent medical team. In 2003, 96% of Guangdong's SARS cases were cured - the highest rate in the world - and huge strides have been made in the research of epidemical diseases this year.

In June 2004, the first antigenic reagent in the world was invented in Guangdong. Later, a four-hour test reagent for SARS was produced in Shenzhen. The Research Institute of the South China Agricultural University has analyzed a whole SARS gene map and progress has been made on SARS medicine research.

Guangdong's government has invested more than 1 billion Yuan to improve the Center for Provincial Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well similar centers at city and county levels. Special funding of 130 million Yuan has been earmarked to construct 158 SARS treatment centers.

Collaboration - In the fight against SARS and bird flu, Guangdong is actively collaborating with neighboring provinces and regions, especially Hong Kong and Macao, at various levels.

A disease notification mechanism, set up during the campaign against SARS by the health departments in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, will be a platform for information exchange on communicable diseases that may threaten the health of residents in the South China region.

The Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention worked together with Hong Kong University to compare the S gene sequence of a SARS-like corona virus in a civet cat sample with that of a suspected SARS case. Their research found the two sequences to be highly similar indicating the civet cat was the origin of SARS corona virus.

Guangdong's effort and achievement has won praise from World Health Organization (WHO) officials. 'Guangdong played a major role in the fight against SARS, and its experience should be learned for reference,' said one WHO expert after his inspection of Guangdong.

Editor: Yan