Russia moves to halt Sars spread

Chinese migrant workers can no longer enter Russia's Far East

Aviation officials in Russia have ordered airlines and cargo carriers to stop selling tickets to mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, to prevent the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).

The decision came as Russian health officials said that the country had its first known case of Sars, diagnosed on the basis of the patient's symptoms. Laboratory tests have not yet confirmed the diagnosis.

Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has also ordered some checkpoints on the border with China to be closed to help contain the virus, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

The moves came as the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a new travel alert because of Sars, advising against non-essential travel to the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, and two more areas of China.

The alert was issued as the number of confirmed deaths worldwide from Sars passed 500.

In other developments:

• China - the worst affected country - reports six new deaths on Thursday, including the first fatality in the city of Shanghai, bringing the total to 225

• WHO officials begin investigations in the Chinese province of Hebei, after the number of cases there double in a week

• In Hong Kong, the number of deaths now stands at 208 after four elderly women die from the illness

• China sacks or penalises more than 120 officials for their "slack" response to the Sars outbreak, state media reports

• Chinese basketball star Yao Ming says he plans to host a telethon on Sunday in his hometown, Shanghai, to raise money for research into Sars

Russian media has quoted the country's chief epidemiologist, Gennady Onishchenko, as saying that a man in Blagoveshchensk, in the Amur region, had been diagnosed with Sars based on the "full clinical picture" observed by doctors.

SARS WORLDWIDE

Known death tolls:

World: 812

Mainland China: 348

Hong Kong: 298

Taiwan: 84

Singapore: 32

Canada: 38

Source: WHO/local authorities

Global update

Denis Soinikov, a 25-year-old resident of the city, was said to be in a serious condition.

Blood and other samples sent to Moscow for laboratory tests have not yet confirmed the diagnosis.

The authorities say passengers already possessing tickets and cargo already arranged for transfer can still fly to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

However, the Russian Civil Aviation Authority has warned airlines to prepare for a complete ban on all air links to China.

Such a ban would require an order by Mr Onishchenko, and cabinet approval.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Russia's Far Eastern Amur and Khabarovsk regions have partially closed their border with China.

There are fears the disease will spread to rural areas of China

Both regions have a booming cross-border trade with neighbouring areas of China.

Another Far Eastern region - Primorye - announced a ban on visa-free travel to and from China for a month.

The WHO has advised that travellers should exercise a "measure of precaution" before travelling to the city of Tianjin or to Inner Mongolia.

The UN agency has already advised against non-essential travel to Hong Kong, Beijing and China's Guangdong and Shanxi provinces.

A similar alert issued for the Canadian city of Toronto was lifted after WHO officials decided the outbreak had been contained there.

WHO officials travelled to the Chinese province of Hebei on Thursday on a mission aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly virus into rural areas.

Officials believe Sars has been carried into the province by migrant workers who fled Beijing after news of the epidemic in the capital became public two weeks ago.

Health workers fear that a major outbreak in such densely populated rural areas would be a catastrophe, because rural hospitals are so poorly equipped.