Singapore man tests positive for SARS | S F Chronicle

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Singapore man tests positive for SARS

YEOH EN-LAI, Associated Press Writer

Monday, September 8, 2003

(09-08) 08:04 PDT SINGAPORE (AP) --

A man in Singapore has tested positive for SARS, health officials said Monday. It was the first reported new case of the disease in more than five months and came after health officials had warned the flu-like illness could return.

The man, an ethnic Chinese Singapore citizen, tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome when he tried to enter Singapore General Hospital, Ministry of Health spokeswoman Bey Mui Leng said. Bey said testing would be repeated to make sure the man had SARS.

The man was tested using a method approved by the World Health Organization. Singapore has been on alert against a possible second outbreak of SARS, which killed more than 800 people and sickened 7,900 after it was first recognized in China in November and then spread to more than 30 other countries.

WHO spokesman Dick Thompson said he could not immediately comment. "We've been getting information from Singapore," he said. "But we're going to need a bit more."

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