Kuala Lumpur: Senior health officials of Association of South-East Nations (ASEAN) and China who converged on April 25 to chalk out a joint strategy to combat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) recommended that airports and ports carryout more rigorous checks on passengers before departure to contain the spread of the killer virus.

According to a draft statement issued after the first day of talks, suspected patients would be barred from travelling and a tab would be kept on their contacts to look for symptoms of the pneumonia-like disease, which has claimed nearly 276 lives worldwide.

"This is to ensure that the person suspected of SARS should not be allowed to travel," said the draft proposals expected to be adopted by the participants at the end of the two-day meeting on April 26. Officials from South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan also took part in the discussions.

"Things are beginning to turn the tide," said Mark Salter, A World Health Organisation (WHO) expert, who expected a return to normalcy in the coming months.

He said many SARS-hit countries, like Vietnam, appeared to be succeeding in damping down the spread of the virus.

"We've no cases for the past 12 days in Hanoi because it has been effectively brought under control," he added.

PTI