Osmetech: Star Trek technology today. The real McCoy

TAIPEI (AFX-ASIA) - Fever screening will become routine at Taiwan's
international airports and other gateways to the island following the discovery
of a suspected SARS case in China, a government official said.
"We are afraid this case may not be the only one and may not be the first,
which may substantiate a long-time speculation that SARS has become an endemic
disease that returns every year this season," said Shih Wen-yi, deputy director
of the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
"In this case, the fever screening must be made a routine measure at
airports and sea ports," Shih told a press conference.
Chinese authorities on Saturday confirmed a man in southern Guangdong
province -- the place the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus
originated in November last year -- is being treated as a suspected case of the
disease.
Though further laboratory tests are required for a final diagnosis on the
patient, Taiwan has from today stepped up screening of travellers from China and
neighboring Hong Kong and Macau for precaution.
Those detected with fever -- an early symptom of the disease -- will be sent
directly to a hospital for tests on arrival at the airport, while the other
travellers checked with no suspicious symptoms have been asked to monitor their
health condition for 10 days.
In Taiwan, a SARS researcher was confirmed on December 17 to have contracted
the deadly virus while at work, raising fears an outbreak might return.
The case was later determined as an isolated one, with the CDC announcing
the island cleared of SARS infections after the last two people who had contact
with the patient were removed from a watchlist Friday.
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