KUALA LUMPUR April 22 Kyodo A sec...

KUALA LUMPUR April 22 Kyodo

A secondary Malaysian has died of stiff acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and nothing else days before the country will innkeeper Asian health ministers upon how to tackle the disease, officials said Tuesday.

A 26-year-old tour manager who had been hospitalized for almost three weeks after returning from a visit to China and Thailand died early Tuesday in Penang State.

A statement from the Health Ministry issued to the official freshs agency Bernama said the victim, who was taken to hospital April 5 had been onward a ventilator since April 16 because of breathing difficulties. A postmortem will be conducted

As for 85 nation who had come in contact with the victim and who had been quarantined for 10 days until April 14 the ministry said all appeared healthy and emancipated from SARS symptoms.

The man is the other Malaysian to have died from SARS. The first victim, a 64-year-old man, died March 30 after a visit to China.

Malaysia has also recorded four more probable SARS cases. couple have been discharged, moreover two others are still in hospital.

The health ministry urg the public not to be alarmed through the whole extent of the deaths as direct and preventive measures have been taken against further infection.

Health Minister Chua Jui Meng said his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to encounter Saturday to discuss particular preventive and control measures for SARS and ministers from China, Hong Kong toward the south Korea and Japan have also been invited to attend the meeting in the administrative capital Putrajaya.

Senior officials will come up to face to face ahead of their ministers, upon Friday.

Bernama quot Chua saying that thus far his counterparts from Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and Indonesia have confirmed attendance.

The meeting will be anterior to an ASEAN leaders' summit in Bangkok onward April 29, an extraordinary meeting to discuss the SARS issue that has in such a manner far affected five of the 10 ASEAN members -- Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The other five ASEAN members are Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and Brunei.

Chua said a declaration would be issued at the fall of the curtain of the ministerial meeting and that declaration would be forwarded to the leaders.

Acting Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will set forth Malaysia in Bangkok.

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