Singapore labs investigated in mystery SARS case

Singapore labs investigated in mystery SARS case

Reuters
Singapore

Investigations into a mysterious single Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) case in Singapore narrowed on Thursday to two
laboratories where a scientist worked before catching the
disease. Research on SARS was done at one of them.

China, widely accused of covering up this year's initial
outbreak of the flu-like disease, said it was pulling out all the
stops to prevent a resurgence.

Beijing airport was keeping aircraft from Singapore away from
the main terminal and passengers from the city state would
undergo separate health checks, state media said. Shanghai
adopted similar measures.

Taipei and Hong Kong, both hit hard by the last outbreak, also
tightened health checks on people arriving from Singapore after
the 27-year-old Singaporean scientist tested positive for SARS on
Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which had declared the
global outbreak over in July, said it would send two experts "at
the request of the Singapore government" this weekend to help the
city state review laboratory safety.

"There is an internal review being conducted but we also want
an external review. WHO has helped arrange for two experts, one
from Japan and one from Australia, who will be coming to
Singapore," said Dr Balaji Sadasivan, junior health minister.

"All the labs are looking at safety measures, especially after
this incident," he told reporters on the sidelines of a WHO
regional conference in Manila.

The scientist had worked at a laboratory at the National
University of Singapore, studying the West Nile virus. But on
Aug. 23, three days before falling sick, he visited an
Environmental Health Institute lab where SARS research is done.

The WHO has said the Singapore case did not fit its profile of
SARS and was "not an international public health concern". It
says it is safe to travel to Singapore.

Nevertheless, the case has put Asia on alert for a feared
winter revival of the disease which infected nearly 8,500 people
globally this year, predominantly in Asia, and killed more than
800, including 33 in Singapore. It battered the tourism industry.

Sadasivan said the scientist probably caught the virus in one
of the labs. But the health ministry has given no official
explanation as to how the man, who has not been identified,
caught the disease pending its own investigation.

"We're now looking into this," said ministry spokeswoman Bey
Mui Leng. "We cannot provide a time frame for the investigation."

Both laboratories have been shut, and 25 people who came into
contact with the man are quarantined at home, although none has
SARS symptoms. The National University of Singapore has begun its
own inquiry and has quarantined 16 staff and students.