New Delhi: Two more persons have tested positive for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus in the country, taking to 21 the number of people affected by the deadly respiratory disease.

While one of the new positive cases is from Maharashtra, the other is from Kolkata, a Health Ministry release said.

No new "doubtful" case had been reported on May 3, it said, adding a case in Amritsar, which had tested positive in the initial diagnosis, was found negative for the SARS virus in the sequencing tests.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), so far a total of 6,054 suspected SARS cases have been reported worldwide with 47 deaths in 27 countries.

PTI