A Chinese Health Ministry spokesman announced Friday that China's central Anhui Province has reported one diagnosed case and one suspected case of SARS.

Meanwhile, the suspected case of SARS reported Thursday in Beijing was confirmed Friday and the city reported a new suspected case, the spokesman said.

The new SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) cases may have resulted from laboratory infection, he said.

The spokesman said the confirmed SARS patient in Anhui was a 26-year-old female postgraduate at Anhui Medical University, surnamed Song. She studied in Beijing at a laboratory of the institute of virus diseases under the Chinese Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) from March 7 to 22.

On March 23, Song went back to Hefei, capital of Anhui, by train and then returned to Beijing by train after complaining of fever on March 25.

On March 29, Song went to see doctor at the Beijing Jiangong Hospital and was hospitalized for pneumonia.

Song then went back to Huainan city of Anhui Province by train on April 2 and received medical treatment at the second hospital of the Huainan coal mine. Two days later, she was transferred to the first hospital attached to Anhui Medical University for viral pneumonia.

The suspected SARS patient who died in Anhui, surnamed Wei, was Song's mother, the ministry said, adding that the mother had accompanied the daughter since March 31.

On April 8, the mother developed a fever and was hospitalized at the first hospital attached to the Anhui Medical University for viral pneumonia with no clear cause.

The mother's condition got worse on April 19 and she died on the same day.

The ministry said Song's blood sample was tested IgG positive on April 21 according to the Anhui provincial CDC. Tests from the Jiangsu provincial CDC on the patient's blood samples also were IgM and IgG positive.

The ministry said it received a report from the Anhui health bureau on the evening of April 21 and sent experts to the province on the next morning.

On April 23, the test result from China's national CDC on the 26-year-old patient's blood sample showed IgG and IgM positive.

Based on the clinical features as well as the results of laboratory tests and epidemiological investigation, the ministry confirmed the daughter as a SARS case and the mother as a suspected one.

The ministry said investigation showed that suspected SARS patient surnamed Li identified in Beijing on Thursday has an epidemiological connection with the SARS case in Anhui.

While the Anhui patient was hospitalized in Beijing Jiangong Hospital, Li worked there and tended her from March 29 to April 2, according to the ministry.

Due to the epidemiological connection between the two patients, the ministry concluded on Friday that the 20-year-old Beijing patient was a confirmed SARS case.

The ministry said Li now has a normal temperature and five out of 188 people with close contact with her have developed fever. The five people were under medical observation at Beijing's Ditan Hospital.

Meanwhile, Beijing reported on Friday a new suspected case of SARS. The patient, surnamed Yang, was a 31-year-old post-doctoral researcher at the institute of virus diseases under the Chinese national CDC, said the ministry.

The patient developed fever on April 17 and was hospitalized on April 22. Based on the clinical features and results of the epidemiological investigation, the patient was diagnosed as a suspected case of SARS by Beijing health authorities, the ministry said.

The ministry said that since Yang used to work with the Anhui patient Song in the same laboratory, there is a possibility that the new cases of SARS were caused by laboratory infection.

The spokesman said the ministry has closed the institute under the national CDC, and put related persons under medical observation. Experts are making tests to trace the source of infection.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2004)