Press Releases
Review Panel On New SARS Case And Biosafety
15 September 2003
This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.
15 Sep 2003
The 27-year-old patient is doing well and has no fever. We expect him to be discharged by Wednesday. He will be placed on a 14-day home quarantine order. All contacts of the case remain well. He is an isolated case of low public health risk.
A 11-member panel chaired by Dr Antony Della-Porta, an Australian biosafety expert from the WHO, has been formed to review epidemiologic data on the SARS case and the biosafety requirements and practices at the laboratories in relation to the recent SARS case in Singapore. They will also make recommendations on biosafety practices and standards.
The international experts on the panel started work today and have visited some of the laboratories in Singapore. They will be having further discussions with all the relevant parties.
The full composition of the panel is listed below. They are expected to complete their investigations during the following week.
REVIEW PANEL ON NEW SARS CASE & BIOSAFETY
Table caption
CHAIRMAN | |
|---|---|
Dr Antony James Della-Porta | WHO Biosafety Expert |
MEMBERS | |
A/P Chew Suok Kai | Deputy Director of Medical Services (Epidemiology & Disease Control, Ministry of Health) |
Lee Chin Ek | Deputy Director (Ministry of Home Affairs) |
Dr Leo Yee Sin | Clinical Director (Communicable Disease Centre) |
Dr Ling Ai Ee | Head & Senior Consultant, Virology Lab (Dept of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital) |
Dr Ng Lee Ching | Defense Science Organisation |
Dr Sonja Olsen | U.S. CDC Epidemiology Expert |
Prof Ong Yong Yau | Emeritus Consultant, Senior Advisor to SingHealth |
Dr Pierre E Rollin | US CDC Biosafety expert |
Dr Kazuyoshi Sugiyama | WHO Biosafety Expert |
Dr Tan Kok Keng | Chief Operating Officer (Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory) |
TERMS OF REFERENCE
1. Review epidemiologic data on the SARS case.
2. Review biosafety requirements and practices at the laboratories in relation to the recent SARS case in Singapore, in the following areas:
Standard Microbiological Practices
Safety Equipment
Laboratory facilities
Training in biological safety
Other special practices
3. Recommend changes to address biosafety issues, improve practices and structural design of the laboratories.
4. Recommend the approaches to the adoption of National Standards, Audit and Accreditation for biological safety.