A Dublin hospital was last night treating the first suspected case of acute severe respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the State. The condition has been blamed for nine deaths in Asia and Canada.
The patient being treated is understood to have recently returned to Ireland on a flight from South-East Asia.
On admission to hospital, the patient was showing mild symptoms similar to those of SARS, which the World Health Organisation described at the weekend as a "worldwide health threat".
The person is in isolation and staff are observing infection-control measures.
The cause of the syndrome, believed to be a form of pneumonia, is as yet unknown, and it does not respond to standard drugs.
Confirmation of the suspected case came in a joint statement from the Department of Health, the National Disease Surveillance Centre (NDSC) and the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA).
It came amid concern that a child taken off a plane at Shannon Airport and admitted to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick might also be a suspected case. However, the Mid-Western Health Board said there was no reason to believe that this was a case of SARS. "The country of origin of the flight has had no exposure to date to SARS," it said.
The flight, from France to the US, made an emergency landing at Shannon to enable the six-month-old child to receive medical attention.
An expert group established by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, to monitor the situation in relation to SARS will have its first meeting this morning.
Members of the group include Dr Darina O'Flanagan, director of the NDSC; Mr Seamus Dooley, of the Virus Reference Laboratory; and representatives of the Department of Health, health boards and the Irish College of General Practitioners.
The NDSC has issued guidelines to hospitals and professionals in the health services describing SARS and offering advice as to how suspected cases should be dealt with.
Some 90 per cent of the more than 400 suspected cases reported in China, Canada, Vietnam, Singapore and Hong Kong have been among healthcare workers.
Early manifestations of SARS include flu-like symptoms such as headache, sore throat and muscle pain. In some cases it progresses to severe breathing difficulties.