Irishman hit with deadly mystery virus

A man suspected to be suffering from the new pneumonia virus Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome was today being treated in a Dublin hospital.

The mystery pneumonia bug which has swept across the world and already killed nine people has been branded a worldwide health threat.

The Irish case emerged as a 64-year-old businessman was also being treated in hospital in Manchester.

The first cases of SARS were reported in south China and Vietnam last month but outbreaks have been reported across south east Asia and even Canada.

As many as 167 cases have been reported around the world, mainly in South-East Asia and Canada.

The Government’s Department of Health and Children and the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) said the man being treated in Dublin, who recently returned on a flight from South East Asia, had shown mild symptoms similar to those of the disease, but was otherwise well and was continuing to receive treatment.

Officials from Ireland’s Eastern Regional Health Authority were investigating the case, and will continue to closely monitor the situation in co-operation with the hospital and the NDSC.

The man ill in a Manchester hospital had travelled from Hong Kong to Amsterdam and then from Amsterdam to Manchester on Saturday.

At the weekend the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the bug “a worldwide health threat” and said cases had been reported on three continents.

The WHO advised anyone who had recently travelled to the Far East and developed symptoms should see a doctor.

The first case of the mystery pneumonia bug was identified in Vietnam last month, but since then the illness has spread across the world.

SARS causes symptoms such as a fever, cough and shortness of breath. However it can also lead to pneumonia, acute breathing problems and, in some cases, death.

The cause of the illness is unknown and the WHO is co-ordinating an international effort to try to discover more.

Evidence suggests it is transmitted by an infectious agent through droplets, emitted during coughing or sneezing or body fluid and has an incubation period of less than seven days.

So far it has mainly been spread through close contact between a patient and health workers or their family.