- (AFP) -- A second crew member of a Malaysian-owned luxury
cruise ship has been confined at a Singapore hospital as a suspected SARS
case, a spokewoman for the company said.
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- "Yes, it's a different case unfortunately,"
the spokeswoman told AFP Friday when asked if the Indian crew member of
the cruise ship SuperStar Virgo taken to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital on
Wednesday here is different from another ship employee hospitalised in
Malaysia.
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- A 26-year-old woman from India who works for the same
ship has been hospitalised in the Malaysian resort of Langkawi as a suspected
case after falling ill on March 30.
-
- In a statement, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
(MPA) said that when the ship arrived here Wednesday from Phuket, Thailand,
the shipping agent reported there was an unwell Indian crew member on board
with a high fever.
-
- "The crew member was isolated and sent to the Tan
Tock Seng Hospital Hospital (TTSH) as a precautionary measure. According
to TTSH, the crew member is still under observation after being classified
as a SARS suspect case," the statement said.
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- Fever is an initial symptom of Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS), which has infected at least 3,000 people and killed more
than 110 of them worldwide.
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- SuperStar Virgo, with a capacity to take 2,008 passengers
aside from its crew of more than 1,300, is owned by the Malaysian company
Star Cruises, which uses Singapore as a hub.
-
- SuperStar Virgo sails from Singapore to Langkawi and
to Phuket.
-
- The ship arrived in Singapore at 1:45 pm (0545 GMT) Friday
with 814 passengers and 1,350 crew members and is scheduled to sail again
at 9 pm (1300 GMT).
-
- "Prior to sailing, the ship will be required to
be disinfected as a precaution. Regular temperature checks of its crew
will be conducted by Star Cruises," the MPA statement said.
-
- It said that all embarking passengers will be screened
for symptoms of SARS and asked questions on whether they had been to areas
listed by the World Health Organisation as SARS hotspots or had any contact
with persons infected by the pneumonia-like virus.
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