China Sees Second Sars Case

China reported its second suspected case of Sars in a week yesterday, prompting a race to control the deadly virus before the lunar new year holiday season.

The outbreak, after a six month hiatus, appears to have panicked the authorities. The reporter and editor in chief of the newspaper that broke the story have been detained, and a cull of thousands of civet cats and other mammals has been ordered. Their link to the latest cases is unproven.

Medical officials said a 20-year-old waitress in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, was placed in quarantine after showing symptoms of the disease on December 26.

The suspected infection comes days after a 32-year-old man was confirmed as having Sars. Both cases occurred in Guangzhou, where the disease is thought to have originated in November 2002 before spreading around much of the world and killing 774 people.

The World Health Organisation dispatched a team to the city yesterday to help control the outbreak before the Chinese new year on 22 January, when the government estimates 1.9bn journeys will be made around China and overseas.

Airports have been told to tighten health checks, and railway stations have been advised to measure the temperature of every passenger.