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| First case of SARS reported in South Korea |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-30 14:04:28 |
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As the SARS epidemic arouses attention worldwide, South Korea's health ministry has confirmed its first case of SARS, just one day after the government announced the country as SARS free. The country's health chief, Kim Moon－sik, said during a news conference on Tuesday that a man in his forties who had returned on Monday from China had the symptoms of SARS, as defined by the World Health Organization.
Kim said it was necessary to wait for another two to three days to confirm whether the pneumonia of the man was bacterial－based or not.
The South Korean health chief said that the man, who had been studying in Beijing, was immediately taken from Seoul's international airport and put into quarantine at a hospital without having any contact with local people. Seven passengers who sat near the man on the flight to Seoul from Beijing were ordered to stay at home and undergo check－ups. The Health Ministry has been contacting the other 75 passengers on this flight.
South Korea has some 13 suspected SARS patients, including a Japanese man who flew from China to Seoul on Saturday. All the SARS suspects are undergoing medical checks and the National Institute of Health is expected to make an announcement later this week on whether they are suffering from SARS.
The Health Ministry predicted about 15,000 to 30,000 South Korean students studying in China would return this week.
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Editor: Yang Feiyang CCTV.com
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