SARS, Deadlier than first thought
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has no known cure, has been carried to more than 20 countries by air travellers since it emerged in southern China late last year.
The disease has killed at least 290 people worldwide and has infected around 5,000.
Asian health ministers have called for compulsory pre-departure checks on passengers at airports and seaports in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.
The ministers met in Kuala Lumpur today to discuss the deadly disease.
The World Health Organisation has accepted new scientific findings that the virus is more deadly than first thought.
The Organisation had said that the bug killed up to 6% of those infected. However, it now accepts that SARS kills 10% of victims.
The new research was conducted by Professor Roy Anderson of Imperial Colleges, London, a leading authority on infectious diseases, who said he still believes the scale of the threat has been exaggerated.
