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Disease kills doctor who first identified it
Nobel prize winner
Anne Marie Owens
National Post
(Dr. Carlo) Urbani
The doctor who first raised the alarm about a mysterious new disease has become one of the most famous casualties of the deadly respiratory illness.
Dr. Carlo Urbani, an Italian communicable-disease expert known for his tireless dedication to his patients, who received a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work with Doctors Without Borders, died in Thailand this weekend, where he was being treated for the severe acute respiratory syndrome he was the first to diagnose.
It is a sad twist worthy of Hollywood movie-making, particularly since the 46-year-old doctor provided such a compelling life story to the plot.
The mayor of the small Italian town of Maiolati Spontini remembered Dr. Urbani as ''an idealist'' who left his home on the Adriatic coast at the age of 22 to work among communities in Africa.
Dr. Urbani went on to become a specialist in tracking communicable diseases, particularly parasitic diseases among schoolchildren.
He was president of the Italian branch of M?d?cins Sans Fronti?res and, as part of a delegation accepting the Nobel prize in 1999, said: ''This prize rewards the idea that health and dignity are indissociable in human beings, and that it is a duty to stay close to victims and guarantee their rights.''
Most recently, he was working in Vietnam, where he diagnosed the disease in a U.S. businessman who was hospitalized with the ailment that has become known worldwide as SARS.
He first saw the businessman in Hanoi on Feb. 28, two days after the man was admitted to hospital with what was thought to be an avian flu virus (bird flu). Dr. Urbani quickly realized it was not bird flu, but a different and what appeared to be unknown disease.
''Carlo was the one who very quickly saw that this was something very strange,'' said Pascale Brudonof the World Health Organization in Vietnam. ''When people became very concerned in the hospital, he was there every day: collecting samples, talking to the staff and strengthening infection-control procedures.''
Dr. Urbani travelled to Bangkok on March 11 for a meeting, but ended up in isolation after he developed a fever. He remained in isolation until his death Saturday.
Nobel prize winner
Anne Marie Owens
National Post
(Dr. Carlo) Urbani
The doctor who first raised the alarm about a mysterious new disease has become one of the most famous casualties of the deadly respiratory illness.
Dr. Carlo Urbani, an Italian communicable-disease expert known for his tireless dedication to his patients, who received a Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work with Doctors Without Borders, died in Thailand this weekend, where he was being treated for the severe acute respiratory syndrome he was the first to diagnose.
It is a sad twist worthy of Hollywood movie-making, particularly since the 46-year-old doctor provided such a compelling life story to the plot.
The mayor of the small Italian town of Maiolati Spontini remembered Dr. Urbani as ''an idealist'' who left his home on the Adriatic coast at the age of 22 to work among communities in Africa.
Dr. Urbani went on to become a specialist in tracking communicable diseases, particularly parasitic diseases among schoolchildren.
He was president of the Italian branch of M?d?cins Sans Fronti?res and, as part of a delegation accepting the Nobel prize in 1999, said: ''This prize rewards the idea that health and dignity are indissociable in human beings, and that it is a duty to stay close to victims and guarantee their rights.''
Most recently, he was working in Vietnam, where he diagnosed the disease in a U.S. businessman who was hospitalized with the ailment that has become known worldwide as SARS.
He first saw the businessman in Hanoi on Feb. 28, two days after the man was admitted to hospital with what was thought to be an avian flu virus (bird flu). Dr. Urbani quickly realized it was not bird flu, but a different and what appeared to be unknown disease.
''Carlo was the one who very quickly saw that this was something very strange,'' said Pascale Brudonof the World Health Organization in Vietnam. ''When people became very concerned in the hospital, he was there every day: collecting samples, talking to the staff and strengthening infection-control procedures.''
Dr. Urbani travelled to Bangkok on March 11 for a meeting, but ended up in isolation after he developed a fever. He remained in isolation until his death Saturday.
