On Friday, Japanese health officials reported to the WHO for the first time their numbers on probable cases of SARS , more than two weeks after such cases started popping up in the nation. Cumulatively, Japan has identified 10 probable cases since March 25, including six cases that have since been cleared. That leaves four probable cases still under investigation.
The delay has caused frustrations among WHO officials, who say it is crucially important for member countries to report numbers promptly in order to accurately track the spread of the illness. "We've got to have this information," said Dick Thompson, a Geneva-based spokesman for communicable diseases at the WHO. "We have to know where [the illness] is. That's the only way we can effectively target our resources." (中略) The WHO says its definition of probable cases is clear and hasn't changed since the start of the outbreak. What's more, Japan's health ministry seems to have understood the WHO's definition on its own Web site. For weeks, the health ministry has posted numbers of probable SARS carriers on its Internet site, precisely following the WHO's definition. However, that information was available only in Japanese.