"A 40-year-old woman is identified as suspected SARS sufferer," said Syafei Achmad, secretary general of preventing infectious disease of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in a press conference.

The Indonesian woman has got married with a British citizen and had lived in Singapore, Achmad said.

The woman returned to Indonesia on April 6, he said.

Currently, the official said, the woman was quarantined in her house under the procedures of the World Health Organization (WHO) and her body temperature will be checked every eight hours.

If the temperature increased, she has to be hospitalized, he added.

The secretary general said that two patients of SARS have returned to their homes, as they have been proved of not suffering from the disease. The latest data indicate that the number of the suspected SARS cases in Indonesia remains at three.

"A suspected SARS patient in Banyumas hospital (in Central Javaprovince) had just got a fever," he said.

Another possible SARS patient has been identified as not the disease sufferer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has categorized the developments of the SARS cases as potential, being isolated and treated, suspected, possible suspect and confirmed.

The WHO defines a suspected SARS case as a person with a fever higher than 38 degrees centigrade; plus a cough, breathing difficulty or shortness of breath; and close contact with a SARS patient or a record of traveling from an affected area.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2003)