Brunei's First Killer SARS Patient Under Watch In RIPAS Hospital

Bandar Seri Begawan - A 28-year-old woman has reportedly fallen ill in Brunei on Tuesday with suspected mystery killer disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). It is the first such case in the sultanate, according to reliable sources.

The woman, a Brunei Shell employee had returned from a trip to Hong Kong and Southern China on March 3 when she became ill soon after.

According to a reliable medical source she suffered since last Wednesday from headaches, fever and muscular pains, shortness of breath and cough.

She went to a doctor who gave her antibiotics to counter the symptoms of pneumonia.

But her discomfort persisted and the RIPAS hospital isolated her on Tuesday night in a ward specially prepared anticipating an outbreak.

The hospital authorities are working feverishly to study the case and devise possible treatment. A source described that the status of her illness based on the current symptoms as a "medium probability." More tests have to be conducted to confirm the virus disease.

The Brunei Health Ministry meanwhile has advised anyone who have travelled to the affected areas such as Hong Kong, China and Vietnam in the last two weeks and has developed a sudden onset of high fever, respiratory systems like cough, shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing to seek medical attention as soon as possible.

But sources said that there was no cause for alarm as this appeared a one off case. However they urged caution.

Health Ministry announced till Monday that Brunei had no clinical cases reported but will continue to monitor the development of the outbreak in line with guidelines in the control and prevention of communicable disease.

The Health Ministry yesterday stated that it will be keeping a close eye on the situation and has taken precautionary measures to avoid any possible outbreaks.

SARS is an infectious disease characterised by a typical pneumonia for which the cause has not yet been determined.

The disease is spread from person-to-person but only through close contact with a case.

There is no evidence to date that the disease spreads through casual contact.

The Health Ministry will continue to work with authorities to ensure that all who pass through points of entries in the sultanate are monitored.

The ministry has also set up contiguously plans should there be an outbreak.

Meanwhile a Reuter report from Hong Kong says that a deadly strain of pneumonia is moving quickly around the globe as infected travelers from parts of Asia spread the disease, creating suspected cases in Britain, Germany, Australia and the United States.

The mysterious respiratory disease, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome and believed to have originated in China late last year, has killed nine people and made hundreds ill.

In crowded Hong Kong, the number of infections rose to 123 on Tuesday, up from 95 a day earlier, officials said. Most of the patients are hospital staff.

Of the total, 111 were suffering severe pneumonia, compared with 83 on Monday.

"In five days (from the onset of symptoms), some of those who are infected can deteriorate into severe pneumonia...requiring respirators," said Leung Ka-lau, head of the Public Doctors Association in Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization has said there seems little chance that it will become a world pandemic, but it has issued an advisory alerting travelers.

Health officials said that until scientists had a clear idea of what caused the disease, the possibility that it was a highly infectious influenza could not be ruled out.

Health officials in Australia said they were investigating their first 20 suspected cases.

Airports and airlines around the world have begun screening passengers and refusing entry to those displaying symptoms of the disease, which has killed five in mainland China, two in Canada and one each in Hong Kong and Vietnam.

The illness begins with a high fever, chills, cough and breathing difficulties and is apparently showing some resistance to conventional drugs.

The Philippines said on Tuesday it would require coffins carrying Filipinos killed by the pneumonia abroad to be sealed on return to the country to prevent any spread.

No Filipino is known to have died of the disease, although four working as nurses in Singapore are combating the illness.

In Hong Kong, some major companies have stocked up on surgical masks, and others are reported to be changing office air conditioning filters.

Some Hong Kong doctors treating the sick--many of them colleagues--have opted to live in hospital quarters rather than take the risk of exposing their families to the disease.

"Any slight cough, slight fever in the family is going to scare us all," said John Tam, a microbiology professor.

One tourism industry official estimated new tour-group bookings to Hong Kong had dropped between 80 and 90 percent over the last few days, amid growing fears of the disease. Tourism has been one of the few bright spots for the sputtering economy.

"It seems quite serious. It's a risk not worth taking," said Taiwan resident Cheng Mei-Chin, who canceled a trip to Shanghai via Hong Kong after her daughter raised objections.

Singapore's Ministry of Health said two more patients had been diagnosed with the highly contagious strain, bringing the number of people afflicted with the severe respiratory syndrome there to 23.

But in Vietnam, hospital officials said an outbreak that had killed a nurse and infected nearly 60 others there appeared to have been contained, though at least four patients remained in critical condition.

The Vietnam-France Hospital where the outbreak occurred several weeks ago appealed for volunteers, particularly nurses, to relieve exhausted staff.

"We need more staff on the medical side, for the cleaning, in the kitchens...the ones who are on the spot are extremely tired, physically and mentally tired because it's not always easy," Lucien Blanchard, general manager of the hospital, told Reuters.

China has reported 305 infections, and there are now more than 200 infected in other parts of the world. Experts believe the number will rise, but they say it is not yet clear whether all the cases are related.

Germany reported four new suspected cases on Monday, and the United States said it was watching 14 suspect cases, although officials doubted any were related to the outbreak. Britain also reported its first suspected cases.

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