GIs: We have no SARS

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — "We have no SARS."

This was the claim of US marine Capt. Burrell Parmer, spokesman for some 1,200 US military personnel now in the country for Balikatan 03 joint military exercises.

But officials of the Bureau of Quarantine led by Dr. Sesnado Sandalo, airport quarantine officer, were not willing to take Parmer’s word that all American troops here are free of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Sandalo ordered bureau personnel at the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) here to wear surgical masks in preparation for the arrival of hundreds of US soldiers from various US military installations in the Asia-Pacific.

When the first aircraft landed at DMIA, a random check on its 150 US military passengers was conducted to find out whether any of them exhibited symptoms of SARS, a contagious and deadly form of pneumonia that has claimed the lives of at least 226 people and infected 3,900 others worldwide as of yesterday.

Before being allowed to disembark, the US soldiers were also required to fill in a "check list," which required information on their identities and addresses as well as the answers to questions on whether they had experienced the 11 known symptoms of SARS.

Sandalo said his office and the Department of Health (DOH) will continue monitoring the health of the soldiers for the duration for the exercises.

Parmer, however, was firm in insisting that no one among the US participants in Balikatan 03 was known to have exhibited any SARS symptoms, although he could not immediately say whether any of the soldiers had recently vacationed in areas known to be significantly affected by the killer disease.

Sandalo disclosed that the US soldiers originated from Okinawa in Japan, Guam and Hawaii — areas which are not known to be affected by SARS. Nevertheless, he said they have prepared concrete actions in case any of the Americans would exhibit symptoms.