Taiwanese dies of suspected SARS

Nigeria has begun screening visitors from abroad after a Taiwanese national died of suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)in the northern city of Kano, health minister Alphonsus Nwosu said.

He told a news conference in Abuja on Monday that an unnamed Taiwanese businessman, who had been visiting Nigeria for the past 20 years, died on 28 February after exhibiting SARS-like symptoms. He died shortly after visiting the former Portuguese colony of Macao in China's Guangdong province.

"I can tell you that the Taiwanese is suspected to have died of SARS," said Nwosu, pointing out there was yet no conclusive evidence. The Taiwanese was buried in Kano at the request of his country's diplomatic mission, he added.

The health minister said the man had been in contact with 27 Nigerians during recent trips to Lagos and Kano. They were put under medical surveillance. Six developed "flu-like symptoms" but all recovered fully.

The government has since deployed equipment for screening visitors for SARS at airports and border crossings, the minister said. Nigerians have also been advised against trips to southeast Asia for the next six months.

Nigeria's sports authorities said on Tuesday they had cancelled a scheduled trip to Japan by the national football team in June to participate in the Kirin Cup tournament because of concerns over the SARS virus. Nigeria had been chosen as a replacement for Portugal, which had earlier withdrawn for the same reasons.

Nwosu said a special inter-ministerial committee had been set up to work out institutional responses aimed at curbing the spread of the SARS virus to Nigeria, Africa's most populous country of more than 120 million people. The committee has been charged with developing the government's capacity to diagnose, quarantine and treat infected people.