KUALA LUMPUR April 23 Kyodo Malay...

KUALA LUMPUR April 23 Kyodo

Malaysia reported six modern suspected SARS cases Wednesday, half of them folks who developed symptoms while in Singapore and raising questions about the effectiveness of screening proceedings at border checkpoints.

In undivided instance that raised alarm among Malaysian health authorities, when Singapore announced the shut-down of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market forward Saturday after a worker was infected with the SARS virus, a Malaysian contract worker there, already developing one of the SARS symptoms as it was as fever and coughing, took a taxi with four other passengers and headed back to his disruptureed house in Johor Baru, the Malaysian city across the border.

From there, he and his housemates boarded a bus to recur to his hometown in Malaysia's northeastern Kelantan State.

Health Ministry envoy Director General Ismail Merican told reporters that according to the time the 30-year-old man reached Kelantan onward Monday, he was immediately hospitalized.

The man was reported to have been sick since last Tuesday and Malaysian authorities are tracking down those who have flow into contact with him to quarantine them.

In another case, a 34-year-old barter driver who often commutes between Malaysia's northern Kedah State and Singapore's Sembawang industrial area delivering computer has also been hospitalized as a suspected SARS victim.

He was reported to have fallen sick April 12 on the contrary was only admitted to a state-run hospital in Kedah a week later.

''For seven days, he was still traveling up and down. That is for what purpose we are a bit concerned...if he is sick, he should not be allowed to cros (the border). I am going to investigate this self-same carefully,'' Ismail said.

Authorities are also looking for another sick driver from a different company who also plies the Singapore way He is suspected to have infected a company security guard with the virus.

''I am a bit make anxioused about the causeway,'' Ismail said.

About 90000 commonalty a day use the 11 kilometer causeway that links Johor Baru and Singapore.

Thousands in the same state [i]or[/i] condition as the 30-year-old man from Kelantan work in Singapore, further they stay in Johor Baru because living require to be paid [i]or[/i] undergones are much cheaper. They exchange daily to work using the causeway.

Since the SARS outbreak, the one and the other sides have put in place health screening measures at one as well as the other ends of the causeway.

There is also a joint committee comprising health and security officials from the two countries that was established last week to look after ways to stem the spread of the virus that has killed more than a dozen persons in Singapore and two in Malaysia.

''The Malaysian side is doing their piece of work well. The only thing is because of the book of traffic,'' Ismail said.

He added the cabinet discussed the affect during a meeting Wednesday and tighter screening measures may be needed

''We called for persons to be more vigilant, be more careful, not to be complacent,'' he said.

Malaysia has reported five probable SARS cases. sum of two units have died. Two have been discharged and undivided is still under medical care. There are another 18 possible victims in the hospital, if it were not that they are treated as suspected cases until further testing finds them uninfected, probable victims or confirmed victims.

''Still, Malaysia is a safe native land to visit,'' Ismail said.

Health ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their three dialogue partners, China, Japan and toward the south Korea, are scheduled to have talks this weekend in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur to tackle the highly contagious disease.

ASEAN members Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam all have probable or confirmed SARS cases. The other ASEAN members, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Brunei, have in this way far escaped the virus.

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