WHO hunts for clues to epidemic

WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) experts in southern China were yesterday continuing their hunt for clues to the origin of a mysterious and deadly flu-like illness that has killed more than 80 people worldwide.

New cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, were reported in Japan, Australia and Russia.

The WHO team said it had received government data indicating that numbers of SARS cases are declining in Guangdong, which has had 40 deaths more than any other area and is suspected of being the source of the illness.