Singapore fears possible Sars case, seals off wards

4.00pm

UPDATE - Singapore sealed off three wards at its largest hospital today after reporting the world's first probable severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) case since the World Health Organisation declared the global epidemic over in July.

Singapore General Hospital said the wards were shut to all visitors after an ethnic Chinese man had tested positive on Monday for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -- Singapore's first victim of the potentially lethal respiratory virus since May.

Sars originated in southern China and was spread early this year to 30 countries by travellers. It infected nearly 8500 people globally and more than 800 died, including 33 in Singapore where the government imposed strict health controls.

The man, a Singaporean citizen, had worked in a virology laboratory and had not travelled to China or Hong Kong recently, the Straits Times newspaper reported.

He had checked into the accident and emergency department at Singapore General before being rushed late Monday to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, whose staff exclusively treated Sars patients during Singapore's last outbreak of the virus from March to May.

The Ministry of Health said a first round of tests had turned out positive for the virus. A second round of tests had been carried out but the results had not been publicly released.

The World Health Organisation had declared the global outbreak contained on July 5. It took Singapore off a list of Sars-affected regions on May 31, about three weeks after its last patient was isolated.

News of the latest suspected case has sparked alarm in Asia, where the last outbreak extracted a heavy economic toll as travellers cut flights, consumers stayed home and hotel rooms emptied. In Singapore, Sars triggered the nation's biggest-ever quarterly economic contraction in the April to June period.

Hong Kong said it was seeking more information on the Singapore patient and was on high alert.

Financial markets in Singapore took an early hit. The bellwether Straits Times index lost 0.70 per cent and the local currency slipped to near one-month lows against the dollar, trading at 1.7600 against 1.7564 on Monday.

Only a few hours before Singapore announced its fears of a new Sars case on Monday, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had warned health specialists meeting in Manila of a possible resurgence of the disease and urged nations to boost surveillance.

The virus, which is believed to have jumped from animals to humans in China late last year.

"None of us can predict what will happen later this year. Will Sars come back or not?" Director-General Lee Jong-wook told the five-day regional WHO meeting.

"We have to prepare on the assumption that this will come back. Our challenge now is to enhance surveillance networks that will detect and deal with Sars if it does come back."

The WHO and Singapore health officials have repeatedly warned the virus could revive in the cool of the northern hemisphere winter. Health controls such as temperature checks have been maintained at border check points, hospitals and some hotels.

During Singapore's last outbreak, about 8,000 people were quarantined. The island took aggressive measures to contain the disease, carrying out temperature checks at border points, hospitals and hotels, and installing closed-circuit TV cameras in homes to enforce the quarantine.

Health officials were investigating people who may have had contact with the latest suspected Sars patient, but it remained unclear if a quarantine would be ordered.

- REUTERS