Health officials expect Sars cases

China has the most cases of the Sars virus

Scottish health officials are working on the assumption that cases of the Sars virus will occur in Scotland.

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Andrew Fraser said planning was under way to deal with any potential cases of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) virus in Scotland.

He said an "immense" effort was being made to keep health workers informed about symptoms and what to do if they come across a case.

But nurses leaders said an outbreak in Scotland could put the health system under strain.

Right approach

James Kennedy of the Royal College of Nursing said nurses were very anxious about Sars.

But he believes the authorities are on the whole taking the right approach in prevention.

However, he is worried that if there was an outbreak, there would be an increased workload on staff.

About 6,000 cases of the pneumonia-like virus have been reported worldwide.

The death toll in China, Hong Kong, Canada and Singapore is increasing daily.

No probable cases of Sars have been identified in Scotland but Dr Fraser said he was working on the "likelihood" that the virus would be identified north of the border.

All healthcare workers will need to be aware of the need to take reasonable and sensible infection control measures.

Dr Andrew Fraser

He said if cases were found in Scotland the aim would be to treat people near to where they became ill.

"Generally speaking there are facilities which we could adapt in each of the larger hospitals to cope with people who might have Sars," Dr Fraser said.

He said an immense amount of effort was going into keeping staff informed.

"All healthcare workers will need to be aware of the need to take reasonable and sensible infection control measures," Dr Fraser said.

The advice to staff was update via the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health website daily, he added.