Union Health Minister Sushma Swaraj said today India was doing everything it could to insulate itself from the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
Confirming that no case of Sars had entered India yet, she said even the reagent used in the diagnostic kits was now being manufactured by Indian companies, so there was no need to import it.
Swaraj said there had been two cases of suspected Sars in Mumbai, including a US national, Rebecca Raleigh, and her two friends, who had shown symptoms of the disease upon coming to India from China. All three had been discharged after it was found that they only had influenza and not Sars.
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Swaraj said the director-general health services (DGHS) had been asked to keep a 24-hour office open and isolate possible Sars cases as soon as they were detected.
Agitated members in the Rajya Sabha wanted to know how clinical waste was being treated, and pointed out that in India, patients with other deadly diseases like AIDS were particularly vulnerable to Sars. Members said the health of such