WHO to fight SARS outbreak in China

WORLD Health Organisation experts were being sent to a crowded province in China where SARS is spreading fast, while research published yesterday suggests the illness is much more deadly than other respiratory diseases.

As the global death toll from SARS approached 500, Russia considered imposing harsh restrictions along its border with China, where experts say the disease has yet to peak.

Chinese officials arrested alleged internet rumour mongers and revoked the licenses of doctors who refused to treat the infection.