National Environment Agency - News Release No: 48/2003

09 Sep 2003

The NUS PhD student, who tested positive for SARS, was not doing any SARS research. He worked in the Environmental Health Institute's (EHI) Bio-Safety Level 3 (BS L3) lab under supervision by EHI staff. He spent about 30 minutes in the BS L3 lab working on the West Nile virus on the morning of 23 August.

The last occasion EHI worked with the SARS virus prior to the student's visit on 23 August was on 17 August. It is unlikely if there was a fugitive SARS virus on 17 August that it would have survived for six days to infect the student.

All EHI staff are well and blood samples taken from them as a routine precaution on 21 August also tested negative.

The Ministry of Health is investigating. Our preliminary assessment is that it is unlikely the student was infected while working at EHI.

Nonetheless, as a precaution, the EHI was disinfected and closed last night. Since the staff had contact with the case, all 26 of them are now on voluntary home quarantine.

Issued by the National Environment Agency

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