Lewiston couple recover from suspected SARS

AUGUSTA – Only two people in Maine so far have had symptoms that fit the criteria for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and both have fully recovered, according to state health officials.

Federal authorities count a couple from Lewiston among the 70 suspected cases in the United States. No one in this country has died of the disease, which has been blamed for about 2,200 cases and at least 78 deaths worldwide.

The illness causes a fever, sometimes with chills, headache and body aches, and can lead to a cough and shortness of breath. Health officials also say the SARS germ, which has not yet been firmly identified, appears to spread mostly through coughing or sneezing.

A 55-year-old man from Lewiston reportedly developed a fever and a cough a few weeks ago after his wife returned from Asia, where the illness is believed to have originated. The man’s wife also had a mild respiratory ailment upon her return.

The State Bureau of Health has not confirmed that the couple suffered from SARS because there is no diagnostic test yet available to make that determination. But because of the symptoms and the wife’s recent travels, the two were reported as suspected cases and bloodwork was sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

No one close to the couple from Lewiston has since shown any signs of the illness.

The state has had other reports of possible SARS cases but the patients did not fit the criteria for the illness, according to health officials.