SARS returns to haunt China

THE Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus returned to haunt China for the first time in six months as a suspected case in southern Guangdong province was upgraded to a confirmed case by senior health officials.

“The case has been confirmed,” Feng Shaoming, spokesman for the Guangdong Centre for Disease Control, said. “Our experts at the CDC have made many tests and they are all positive.”

SARS triggered a worldwide health crisis after emerging in Guangdong in November last year, causing 774 deaths and more than 8,000 infections, the majority in Asia.