Hong Kong ? A mysterious life-threatening illness is straining economic activity across Asia, forcing manufacturers to temporarily shut down, bankers to cancel face-to-face meetings and visitors to stay away.

Near-term productivity will undoubtedly suffer, delivering the harshest blow to the struggling travel industry. Economists say the outbreak of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, will hurt much of the retail and service sectors as consumers avoid malls, restaurants and other forms of entertainment.

The greatest financial impact, so far, has been felt in Hong Kong and Singapore, where the incidence of infection is highest. But financial analysts are also keeping an eye out for signs of the disease’s spread in mainland China, South Korea and Vietnam.

“The outbreak of SARS is significant enough to affect growth across the region,” said Merrill Lynch economist T.J. Bond.

Bond and other financial experts on Wednesday lowered their 2003 economic growth forecasts for East Asia, which excludes Japan, by 0.6 percent. Those predictions assume the spread of SARS will be under control by early summer, a hopeful scenario given the current environment of fear and ignorance surrounding the illness.

Motorola and Hewlett Packard briefly closed factories in Singapore and Hong Kong, respectively, to disinfect them after workers showed symptoms. Intel canceled a trade show in Taiwan and General Motors scrapped plans to have journalists tour its operations in South Korea.

Several major banks shut down branches near Hong Kong’s Amoy Gardens, an apartment complex where the government imposed a 10-day quarantine Monday after reporting about 200 cases of the disease.

Such outbreaks have led many companies, including U.S.-based Eastman Kodak and Finland-based Nokia, to restrict travel to Asia. Others, such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, have asked families of employees working in Hong Kong to return to South Korea.

Traders wear masks in an attempt to protect themselves from severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, at Hong Kong's Stock Exchange. The disease has killed nearly 80 people worldwide, with the majority of cases in Hong Kong and China, and there is no known treatment.

Standard Chartered, Hong Kong’s fourth largest bank, told employees to avoid face-to-face meetings. But teleconferencing and other technologies has helped ease the crisis. “We’re using virtual or online reporting for most offices,” said Mary V. Lam, a spokeswoman for Motorola Asia Pacific.

Still, the alarm caused by the deadly flu-like illness has had a devastating effect on Asian tourism, causing airline and hotel bookings to drop sharply.

“This would have gotten a whole lot more attention had the war in Iraq not been happening,” said Sherry Cooper, chief global economic strategist for BMO Financial Group.

That said, Cooper believes a decisive victory in Iraq by U.S.-led forces would deliver a rush of exuberance to worldwide financial markets, overshadowing any lingering impact caused by the mysterious illness, which has claimed the lives of at least 78 people. More than 2,200 are believed to be sick.