Singapore health officials have said that the second test on a 27-year-old laboratory technician suspected of having the deadly pneumonialike disease has come back positive, according to news agency AP.
A spokesman from the World Health Organization said that the confirmed case of SARS in Singapore is isolated and as yet, has no plans to issue a travel advisory warning against travelling to the country.
The report said that so far, this is the only confirmed case in the Republic and that 25 people the patient has been in contact with have been issued with orders to be quarantined at home.
The man is a post-doctoral student studying the West Nile virus. Health ministry officials have said that the man has had no known contact with the virus and has not traveled recently.
Although the World Health Organization has not yet officially declared this to be the start of a new outbreak for SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), the news will worry those hit by the economic fallout caused by disease's appearance from March to May this year.
During the outbreak, which also hit Taiwan, China and Hong Kong and other countries, the tech and tourism industries lost millions as IT trade shows were cancelled, tech buying was postponed and factories and office closed.
More than 800 were killed and 8,000 around the world were made ill by the disease during the last outbreak.
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Nice to see CNET broadening its reach beyond IT to community news. What's the latest on Anita Mui's cancer drama?
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on Tuesday, September 09 2003 10:24 PM