A second suspected case of the pneumonia-type virus which has now been blamed for up to 14 deaths worldwide was being treated at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin last night.
The patient, who had been in South-East Asia, where cases of severe respiratory syndrome (SARS) are believed to have originated, was admitted to the hospital yesterday with some symptoms of the condition, which does not respond to standard drugs.
News of the second suspected case came as the Department of Health confirmed that the first suspected case in the State - a patient who is being treated at Dublin's St James's Hospital - was in a comfortable condition.
That patient, a man who had also been to South-East Asia, is not now believed to have SARS, according to Dr Darina O'Flanagan, director of the National Disease Surveillance Centre and chair of a new expert group established to monitor the situation. However, she said that he was still being treated in an isolation ward and that staff were observing infection-control measures.
"I understand he's recovering well. He's not considered to be a probable case," Dr O'Flanagan said.
Meanwhile, the first meeting of the expert group established to monitor the situation in relation to SARS took place yesterday. After a two-hour meeting at the Department of Health, Dr O'Flanagan said that the known epidemiology of SARS had been reviewed. Also reviewed were the guidelines already issued to healthcare workers and the travelling public.
"We will be monitoring the situation on a daily basis and have agreed to reconvene on Friday," she said.
The World Health Organisation last weekend labelled SARS a "worldwide health threat". Over 400 suspected cases have so far been reported, the majority of them in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
The virus appears to have spread to Europe, North America and Australia through air travel. Suspected cases have now been registered in nine European countries, with France and Wales registering their first suspected cases yesterday.
Dr O'Flanagan said that the risk to anyone who had not been to an affected area was extremely low. However, any person who developed symptoms - high fever, flu-like symptoms and cough - within 10 days of returning from an affected area should seek medical advice.
Doctors in Hong Kong were reported yesterday to have identified the cause of SARS as a virus from the paramyxoviridae family, which is responsible for conditions such as mumps and measles. More work is needed to establish whether the virus is a new strain. WHO officials said yesterday that they believed the infection was coming under control outside Asia.