China has suspected Sars patient

Taiwan has had a recent case of Sars

A man with symptoms of the deadly Sars virus has been admitted to hospital in southern China, health officials said on Saturday.

If confirmed, it would be China's first case of severe acute respiratory syndrome since July.

The suspected new case is in Guangdong province, where the flu-like virus first emerged last year.

The virus went on to infect 8,000 people in nearly 30 countries, killing about 800.

We will deploy staff to check people travelling from Guangdong on a random basis Dr P.Y. Lam

The latest suspected patient, identified by Chinese media as a freelance television worker with the surname Luo, was not believed to have travelled to Hong Kong or elsewhere in China.

Hong Kong's director of health Dr PY Lam said the patient had a respiratory tract infection and a fever - symptoms, associated with Sars.

"We will deploy staff to check people travelling from Guangdong on a random basis," he told reporters..

Two recent cases of the disease in Singapore and Taiwan were attributed to accidents in medical research laboratories.