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China's Xinjiang Reports First
Death of Suspected SARS Victim
BEIJING, May 30 (AFP) -
China's remote northwestern Xinjiang province has
reported its first suspected SARS-related death, state
media said Friday.
A 20-year-old male student died on Tursday with
symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, China
News Service said.
He was one of only two suspected SARS cases in the
largely Muslim province, far from the capital Beijing
and the SARS ground-zero province Guangdong.
The Chinese government had long said it wanted the
province to remain SARS-free.
The report said the student had come down with a fever
on May 18 and was taken to a hospital in Changji
prefecture on May 22.
By Tuesday, his condition had become so serious that
he was transferred to an infectious disease hospital
managed by the Xinjiang Disease Control Center. He
died 72 hours later on Thursday.
Three infectious disease experts from China's Ministry
of Health examined the body and classified him as a
suspected SARS patient. The report did not say why the
man's death was not considered a SARS death.
He showed several symptoms typical of SARS patients,
including a high fever -- which at its maximum reached
40 degrees Celsius -- a dry cough, chest pains and
shadows on his lungs, the report said.
The victim's school in Changji city has since been
isolated and people who have had contact with him are
being monitored for symptoms, the report added. So far
none show signs of the disease.
Classes at the school are continuing, but no one is
allowed to leave, it said.
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