Sars mars Indian wedding

Sars fears are rising in India

An Indian wedding party has been quarantined after the bride tested positive for the Sars virus.

Health officials waited outside a church for the ceremony to finish before taking the bride to hospital.

She and two members of her family are all said to be infected by the deadly pneumonia virus, bringing the total number of Sars cases in India to four.

Last week, the first confirmed Sars case in India was reported from the coastal state of Goa.

Wedding on schedule

The latest case is being reported from the western city of Pune, where a man is said to have passed on the virus to his mother and sister.

We are maintaining a kind of Sars red alert

Health Minister Sushma Swaraj

He had arrived from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to attend his sister's wedding.

Reports say his sister insisted on going ahead with the wedding despite pleas from health officials.

The ceremony was kept very short and guests were asked to keep their distance from the couple.

Twenty-five wedding guests were quarantined afterwards as a precautionary measure.

"A team of health officials was present at the wedding. Many people had to return without attending the wedding," The Indian Express newspaper quoted a wedding guest as saying.

'Red alert'

In a related development, Indian Health Minister Sushma Swaraj has convened an emergency meeting to discuss measures to control the spread of the virus.

KNOWN DEATH TOLL

Hong Kong: 99

China: 97

Canada: 14

Singapore: 16

Vietnam: 5

Thailand: 2

Malaysia: 2

Q&A: What is Sars?

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"We are maintaining a kind of Sars red alert," Ms Swaraj said during a debate in the lower house of parliament.

She said monitoring systems were being strengthened at airports.

"There is no negligence, there is no apathy, I assure you," she told MPs.

Soon after the outbreak of the mystery virus, the Indian media criticised the government for taking the danger lightly.

Media reports at the time said passengers arriving at Indian airports from affected countries were being poorly screened for the virus.

Until last week, India had escaped the mystery virus first detected in Hong Kong last month.

It has claimed the lives of more than 200 people since.

There have now been almost 4,000 probable cases around the globe, mainly in China, Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore, according to the World Health Organization.