S'pore confirms new SARS case; WHO has doubts<\/p>\n
Jason Szep, Reuters, Singapore<\/p>\n
Singapore said on Tuesday tests had shown a 27-year-old medical
\nresearcher had Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), in what
\ncould be the world's first case since a global outbreak was
\ndeclared over in July.<\/p>\n
But the World Health Organization (WHO) said the case did not
\nfit the WHO definition of the disease under its new guidelines
\nand would not pose a public health emergency.<\/p>\n
Singapore will send the samples of the man's tissue to the
\nU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for further
\ntests.<\/p>\n
"From the public health perspective, this does not seem to be
\nan emergency," Dick Thompson of the UN agency's communicable
\ndiseases division, told Reuters in Geneva. "We have rigid case
\ndefinitions for SARS, and this person does not qualify."<\/p>\n
Originating in southern China, SARS was spread to 30 countries
\nby travelers early this year. It infected nearly 8,500 people
\nglobally. More than 800 died, including 33 in Singapore, where
\nthe government imposed strict health controls.<\/p>\n
Singapore's health ministry said the sick man, a post-doctoral
\nstudent studying the West Nile virus at National University of
\nSingapore, posed only a "low public health risk".<\/p>\n
Twenty-five people who had contact with him had been
\nquarantined.<\/p>\n
Singapore conducted two rounds of Polymerase Chain Reaction
\n(PCR) tests. These amplify genetic material and are key
\ndiagnostic tools in testing for SARS. But the tests are not
\nalways reliable.<\/p>\n
"We have a patient who has fever, and we've done serology and
\nPCR tests that were all positive," said Khaw Boon Wan, acting
\nminister for health<\/p>\n
"Regardless of what the WHO's definition is, I can't ignore
\nthe fact that this is a SARS case."<\/p>\n
"I'm anticipating that the tests from the U.S. will be
\npositive because both our tests have been positive. I'll bet on
\nCDC results coming back positive."<\/p>\n
It was unclear how the man caught the virus. He had worked at
\na laboratory that researches viruses including SARS, although was
\nnot one of the four people involved in SARS research.<\/p>\n
"We do not think really that this person contracted the virus
\nfrom the lab," said Daniel Wang, director general of public
\nhealth at the National Environment Agency. The remaining 23 lab
\nstaff were healthy, he said.<\/p>\n
The WHO declared the outbreak contained worldwide on July 5
\nand took Singapore off its list of SARS-affected regions on May
\n31, about three weeks after its last patient was isolated.<\/p>\n
The government said late on Monday initial tests on the man
\nshowed positive for SARS. Singapore had been on edge on Tuesday,
\nwaiting for confirmation.<\/p>\n
News of the case sparked alarm in Asia, where the last
\noutbreak took a heavy economic toll as travelers cut flights and
\nconsumers stayed at home. SARS triggered the biggest quarterly
\ncontraction of Singapore's economy, in the April to June period.<\/p>\n
It jolted Singapore's financial markets, shaving 2.6 percent
\noff the bellwether Straits Times index in its biggest one-day
\ndrop since March 31.<\/p>\n
Authorities believe SARS is caused by a type of coronavirus, a
\nrelative of the common cold, which spreads like flu viruses
\nthrough infected droplets. The virus is believed to have jumped
\nfrom animals to humans in China late last year.<\/p>\n
The health ministry quarantined eight of the man's family
\nmembers, along with two doctors, eight outpatients and three
\nvisitors to Singapore General Hospital. Four discharged patients
\nwere also isolated at home.<\/p>\n
The man had checked into the accident and emergency department
\nat Singapore General before being taken late on Monday to Tan
\nTock Seng Hospital, whose staff exclusively treated SARS patients
\nduring the last outbreak.<\/p>",
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