HONG KONG: The death in Beijing of an International Labour Organisation (ILO) official and another two deaths from SARS in Hong Kong yesterday provided a gloomy backdrop to efforts to find a cure for the killer pneumonia virus.
As the first suspected case of infection from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus was detected in Kuwait, World Health Organisation (WHO) experts pursued the search for the cause of the mystery illness in the epidemic's epicentre, southern China.
The death of the ILO's Mr Pekka Aro from SARS was announced at a Chinese health ministry press conference in Beijing. He was the most high-profile casualty of the outbreak since WHO expert Carlo Urbani - who first identified the disease - died in Bangkok last month.
Mr Aro, from Finland, was among 19 new cases announced in the Chinese capital, bringing the number of deaths in Beijing to four.
At least 51 deaths from SARS have been reported in China and 1,247 people have been infected there, according to official figures released yesterday.
Meanwhile British public health experts have reported a fifth probable case of the virus, a man who returned from Taiwan last month. It was the second suspected case of the illness in Britain in as many days.
The man, who returned to Britain on March 29th and was admitted to hospital on Saturday, was in isolation as a precautionary measure. His condition was stable.
Three other people in Britain with probable SARS have been treated and released from hospital.
Meanwhile, China went into damage control mode to repair an image badly tarnished by its foot-dragging in handling the outbreak.
WHO investigators held meetings with Chinese health and disease control officials yesterday, their fourth day in Guangdong province, where the virus has killed more people than anywhere else.
In an effort to fend off criticism of China's handling of the outbreak, state-run media carried reports by the WHO praising China for its handling of the crisis and the authorities put a gag on Internet users mentioning SARS online.
China's new premier Mr Wen Jiabao also stepped into the fray. During an inspection tour yesterday of a centre for disease control, Mr Wen said: "The Chinese government is fully capable of controlling the spread of SARS."
The latest figures brought the worldwide death toll from SARS to 93 and the number of confirmed or suspected infections to 2,705.