Family of SARS victim isolated

Family of SARS victim isolated

MALAYSIA: The Malaysian government has ordered a stay-at-home quarantine for five relatives of a man who died - possibly from a flu-like illness that has killed nearly 80 people worldwide - health officials said on Thursday.

The quarantine order was the first in Malaysia, which has so far not reported any confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, said Health Director-General Mohamed Taha Arif.

He said the people being quarantined in eastern Pahang state were family members of a 64-year-old Malaysian man who fell ill and died after returning from trips to China and Singapore late last month.

The man "had most of the symptoms" of SARS, but the Health Ministry would wait until Friday to announce whether he would be classified as a probable SARS case, Mohamed Taha said. --AP