Brussels, May 06: It is too early to say whether the worldwide SARS epidemic has reached its peak, the head of the UN's World Health Organization said after talks with European Union officials today. "I cannot say with any certainty today whether the outbreak around the world has peaked or not," WHO Secretary-General Gro Harlem Brundtland told European Commission officials.
Brundtland, who was speaking just before an emergency meeting of EU health ministers on the SARS crisis, said however that one country, Vietnam, could be considered free of the disease, and it was in regression in Canada.


But, "We certainly haven't seen a peak in China yet there's still a considerable number of cases everyday and in a number of provinces," she added, describing china as "one of the crucial areas now."


"We could call Vietnam free of SARS," she said. "In Canada, with a main focus in Toronto, the outbreak is receding. Obviously, the peak is behind us."


EU Health Commissioner David Byrne, speaking at the same press conference, said the virus-borne disease was a "wake-up call" for the EU.
Bureau Report