KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON - Today, the King County Board of Health passed a resolution directing Public Health - Seattle & King County to increase the public health and medical care health care systems' ability to effectively respond to and control a potential SARS outbreak in King County.

"The lessons of Hong Kong, Toronto and other cities affected by SARS last winter are not lost on us. We must be prepared for the reemergence of SARS globally, and the possibility that it could affect us locally," said Carolyn Edmonds, King County Board of Health Chair and King County Councilwoman.

"Our local healthcare and public health systems need to be prepared to quickly detect and control disease transmission and minimize the impact of SARS outbreaks," said Dr. Alonzo Plough, Director and Health Officer for Public Health - Seattle & King County. "We anticipate the benefits of planning for SARS will be valuable even if SARS does not reappear."

In some SARS affected areas with outbreaks in 2003, healthcare workers accounted for a large proportion (often greater than 50%) of cases. In addition to healthcare workers who cared for patients, other hospital patients and visitors were often affected and in many instances propagated the outbreaks in the hospital and into the community.

The resolution calls on King County health care providers, hospitals and other health care facilities to develop SARS preparedness plans appropriate for their practice settings, including provisions for:

• Early detection of potential SARS cases through use of standardized recommended screening methods;
• Prompt reporting of potential SARS cases to Public Health;
• Rapid isolation of potential SARS cases and implementation of appropriate infection control and outbreak response measures in health care settings; and
• Promotion of "respiratory hygiene" measures to prevent transmission of contagious respiratory infections to patients, health care providers, ancillary/support staff and visitors in health care settings.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). SARS was first reported in Asia in February 2003. Over the next few months, the illness spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The SARS global outbreak of 2003 was contained; however, it is possible that the disease could re-emerge.

The main way that SARS seems to spread is by close person-to-person contact. The virus that causes SARS is thought to be transmitted most readily by respiratory droplets (droplet spread) produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. In addition, it is possible that the SARS virus might spread more broadly through the air (airborne spread) or by other ways that are not now known.

Click here to view King County Board of Health Resolution No. 03-301, "Bioterrorism and Biological Disaster Preparedness"

The King County Board of Health sets county-wide public health policy, enacts and enforces local public health regulations, and carries out other duties of local boards of health specified in state law. These duties included enforcing state public health statutes, preventing and controlling the spread of infectious disease, abating nuisances and establishing fee schedules for licenses, permits, and other services. Visit the King County Board of Health webpages for information about the Board