Urbani, Sars doctor, died 17 years ago

(ANSA) - CASTELPLANIO (ANCONA), MARCH 28 - "If we fail to affirm the infection, this new disease will be a new Spanish". Prophetic words, pronounced in 2003 by CarloUrbani, expert of infectious diseases for the WHO, victim in the same year of Sars, who had contributed to identifying it as a new pathology. For the crowning emergency, the initiatives scheduled in Castelplanio, his city, and in other places in the Marche, were canceled tomorrow for the anniversary of his death. His wife Giuliana Chiorrini and son Tommaso remember with ANSA those dramatic days, between Hanoi where he lived with his wife and 3 young children and Bangkok where he died. "There was a great exchange of emails with the WHO and with the Igoverni, who did not want to close the borders - they say -, it took ten days. But for him it was too late". Urbanifu was one of over 700 SARS victims, less contagious than the coronavirus but more lethal. "Today we saw the stessed dynamics" say his wife and son.