HK woman does not have Sars

Hong Kong was hit badly by the Sars virus

A Hong Kong woman who showed symptoms of the deadly Sars virus has tested negative for the disease, health officials said on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old woman was admitted to a private hospital on 8 September, after suffering from shortness of breath and fever.

She was later transferred to a government hospital after private doctors were unable to rule out the possibility she had contracted Sars, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Initial tests proved negative, but the woman was kept in isolation while health officials carried out more detailed procedures, which backed up the negative result.

Last week, Singapore reported its first Sars case for several months when a health researcher became infected with the disease, possibly while working in a laboratory.

He has since recovered and health officials say his case was probably an isolated incident.

More than 800 people died of Sars worldwide - most of them in Hong Kong and China, where the disease originated - and a further 8,500 others were infected.

The epidemic is also estimated to have cost Hong Kong billions of dollars in economic damage.