A Singaporean man who was diagnosed with SARS in early September almost certainly caught the disease from the lab where he worked, experts have concluded.
The case 鈥� the first for five months 鈥� sparked a worldwide alert and rattled public health officials who feared that the epidemic had returned.
According to an investigation led by the World Health Organization, the 27-year-old postgraduate student almost certainly caught the disease from a culture of West Nile Virus that had become contaminated with SARS virus.
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Genetic analysis of the strain of SARS found in the man鈥檚 body and that of a culture in the same building were virtually identical claimed the WHO.
The cross-contamination probably resulted from lax safety procedures in the government鈥檚 National Environment Agency (NEA) lab, says Anthony Della-Porter, leader of the investigating WHO team. Della-Porter said that the microbiology researcher 鈥渞ushed through鈥� safety procedures in the days leading up to his illness.
Tougher safety
The lab began working with the SARS virus in April 2003 having previously worked only with mosquito-borne diseases. Despite the obviously increased risk, the NEA lab had failed to introduce tougher safety measures.
The WHO-led team also pinpointed 鈥渋nsufficient鈥� training of laboratory workers and recommended that better records of virus samples be kept. 鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 been a disaster, but it could have been,鈥� Della-Porter says.
Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore鈥檚 health minister said that the country had been lucky not to suffer a second outbreak of SARS, which killed 33 people in the city state in spring 2003.
鈥淭he critical point is let us draw lessons from this and tighten up,鈥� he says.
The health minister also announced plans for new legislation to improve standards at medical research laboratories.
The SARS virus first emerged in China鈥檚 southern Guangdong province in November 2002. It swept across the globe in spring 2003, killing over 800 people and causing 8400 infections in about 30 different countries. The global all-clear came on 5 July.