Good evening epox12 and thank you for the question.
The most common ways to contract the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) virus is through person to person contact; i.e. kissing,
hugging, sharing eating and drinking utensils, talking to someone
within three feet of you and touching someone directly. SARS can also
be transmitted through respiratory droplets from a person infected
with SARS when they sneeze or cough, in addition to touching a
contaminated surface or object and then touching your mouth, nose or
eyes. Although not confirmed, scientists think SARS could be
transmitted through the air.
SARS Reference states, ?there are currently no indications that any
goods, products or animals arriving from areas with SARS outbreaks
pose a risk to public health.?
( http://www.sarsreference.com/sarsref/trans.htm )
However, according to the Center for Disease Control, ?The virus also
can spread when a person touches a surface or object contaminated with
infectious droplets and then touches his or her mouth, nose, or
eye(s). In addition, it is possible that SARS-CoV might be spread more
broadly through the air (airborne spread) or by other ways that are
not now known.?
Source: ( http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/faq.htm )
Therefore, I think it IS possible to get SARS through the mail,
however it depends on a few things:
Did the person with SARS directly sneeze or cough on the package or
did the person with SARS simply ?handle? the package ?
How long does SARS ?live? on items before it?s considered non-contagious?
For example, if I had SARS and I coughed on a box, handed it to my
friend, who then put his finger in his mouth after handling the
package, yes, SARS could be contracted.
However, if I had SARS and I coughed on a box, mailed it to my friend
2 weeks later, who then put his finger in his mouth after handling the
package, would the SARS virus still be ?alive? and able to contaminate
my friend? These are questions that you might consider contacting the
Center for Disease Control about. Their contact information is as
follows:
Public:
English 800-CDC-INFO
Espaņol 888-246-2857
TTY 888-232-6348
Clinician:
English 877-554-4625
Email:
cdcinfo@cdc.gov
I hope this answers your question. If you would like clarification
before rating my answer, please do not hesitate to ask!
Nenna-GA
Google Researcher
Source:
Center for Disease Control
( http://www.cdc.gov )
Google Search Terms:
SARS References
( ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=SARS+references&btnG=Search
) |
