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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, May 09, 2003

South African Suspected of Having SARS Free of Virus

The South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday that the South African suspected of having Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was free of the virus.


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The South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Thursday that the South African suspected of having Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was free of the virus.

The NICD's Professor Bob Swanepoel said the 30-year-old man, who was isolated in a Pinetown hospital on Wednesday while the cause of his symptoms was verified, was not a SARS sufferer.

"In South Africa's only probable SARS case -- a man who visitedHong Kong and who exhibited symptoms that seemed to indicate SARS -- repeated laboratory tests were negative," said the department and the NICD.

"These tests were done both at our NICD and at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta up to day 26 of his illness, when he died of a cardiac condition unrelated to SARS."

In a statement on Thursday the health department and the NICD said the tests performed in South Africa were the same as those used in overseas laboratories collaborating with the World Health Organization. The same quality control standards also applied.

More than 90 percent of the cases reported worldwide were not confirmed by laboratory tests. They were classified on the basis of strong clinical and circumstantial evidence.

"The criteria for identifying SARS are likely to be refined as more experience is gained," said the department and the NICD.

They stressed that public as well as private health facilities in South Africa would remain vigilant to spot people infected withthe disease.


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