BOSTON -- Health officials and business leaders denied a rumor that a potentially deadly illness had been found in Chinatown, calling it an apparent April Fool's joke.

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Officials Try To Get Information Out

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that a posting appeared on a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Web site April 1 claiming that someone who worked at the China Pearl restaurant had been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

"This is a terrible rumor," businessman Reggie Wong said. "It must be an April Fool's prankster out there not realizing how it's going to effect the economy in the community."

No one from the restaurant has been diagnosed with SARS. The rumor spread, as e-mails advised against going to Chinatown.

"And then the rumor came out that it was not just us, that it was numerous places, like the restaurant and travel agency," China Pearl owner David Moy said. "For us, for these couple of days, our business was down about 70 percent."

There can actually be legal parking spaces found in Chinatown throughout the day, a clear sign that the April Fool's joke has damaged the normally bustling business community.

"At this time in the economy with the war in Iraq and everything else, business is naturally down," neighborhood council member Bill Moy said. "For something like this to occur, it even worsens the economic conditions in Chinatown."

Trying to combat ignorance, Chinatown business leaders and health officials organized a seminar Thursday afternoon at China Pearl to tell the real story about SARS and the fact that there have been no cases anywhere near the community.

"If we have a case, we would need to report it. There are regulations," said Eugene Welch, of the South Cove Health Center. "Other than that, it's just rumors that are hurting a community and causing harm to the whole community."

Health officials have created a fact sheet in Chinese and English about SARS they said they will distribute to businesses and schools.