China confirms two relatives of lab nurse infected with SARS

CHINA confirmed two more SARS cases yesterday, doubling the number of infected people linked to a Beijing laboratory believed responsible for the latest outbreak of the disease.

The mother and aunt of an infected nurse were the latest cases, according to China’s Ministry of Health.

One was listed as critically ill, though it was unclear which. The announcement brought the mainland’s number of cases to four confirmed and five suspected.

In Taiwan, a 78-year-old man was quarantined and tested for SARS yesterday after he returned from the mainland and developed a high fever and other flu-like symptoms. He had travelled for two weeks in China before returning yesterday, authorities said.

But even as the numbers rose, the Chinese government and the World Health Organisation emphasised that the SARS cases appeared to be contained to people linked to Beijing’s Institute of Virology, a national laboratory.

An international medical team was set to visit the institute to determine if procedures there contributed to the re-appearance of severe acute respiratory syndrome, China’s government said.

It wants to stem both the disease and public panic to prevent a recurrence of events last year, when 349 people in China died after SARS emerged from the southern province of Guangdong. About 774 died worldwide, thousands were taken ill and the economic repercussions were severe.

Tracking the current cases is especially urgent because the week-long Labour Day holiday begins Saturday. Millions will be travelling around the country, and any SARS carriers could infect people over a wide area.