Two deaths - o­ne o­n April 11 and another this morning - could be linked to the potentially deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars), Health Ministry deputy director-general Dr Mohd Ismail Merican revealed today.

If the deaths are confirmed to be linked to Sars, the fast-spreading disease - which does not have a cure - would have claimed three lives in Malaysia since the first death was recorded o­n March 30.

Mohd Ismail also announced o­ne new probable case, making it the fifth in Malaysia.

'A bit different'

On the two deaths, Mohd Ismail ( left ) said the ministry is waiting for the post-mortem reports to be released next week.

The first was of a 37-year-old Chinese Malaysian male who was placed under isolation at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, Klang since April 7 and died o­n April 11.

Mohd Ismail said this fatality is "a bit different" from the previous probable Sars deaths as the man who was a drug user had developed fever and headache but did not show respiratory problems.

A Singaporean relative of the man visited him before he was warded, but has since been vetted by the ministry as not linked to Sars.

The second death was of a 65-year-old Chinese Malaysian male isolated at Hospital Kuala Lumpur who died early this morning. The patient returned from China o­n April 1 and was warded yesterday after suffering a fever for four days.

"His situation was quite comfortable and did not have shortness of breathing. Although he showed low platelet counts, but this could be linked to dengue haermorrhagic fever," said Mohd Ismail.

"He died suddenly in his sleep this morning. This is unusual because Sars patient will suffer from respiratory problems," he added.

Among symptoms of Sars are high fever, muscle ache, sore throat, cough, flu and followed by difficulty in breathing and may progress to a severe form of pneumonia. Probable cases refer to suspected cases with chest X-ray findings of pneumonia or respiratory distress syndrome.

"Although both of them did not fit all the criteria for probable or suspected Sars, we want to take proactive action and wait for their post-mortem reports to see whether (the Sars-linked) coronavirus would be detected in his body," Mohd Ismail said.

Scientists worldwide believe a new strain from the coronavirus family is the reason leading to Sars but they have yet to identify the strain.

Asked if any of the two patients' family members have been placed under quarantine, Mohd Ismail replied that the ministry will not do so pending the post-mortem reports.

"It is not fair to start to quarantine everyone. Furthermore as I said, the two patients did not fit all the criteria for Sars."

Fifth probable case

On the new probable patient, Mohd Ismail said he is a 26-year-old Chinese man who commuted daily to Singapore from Johor to work.

The man, whose hometown is in Kulim, Kedah, was admitted to the Penang General Hospital yesterday.

Eleven people who had close contact with him have been placed under home quarantine. Six are family members in Kedah and five are the patient's housemates in Johor. The man last visited his family o­n April 9.

"The man has came down with fever and shows some changes in his chest X-rays finding. (However), he did not have a history of contacts with any Sars patient. I was informed that he is in stable condition," Mohd Ismail said.

Meanwhile, up till yesterday, 16 new notification cases were reported, five of them suspected Sars.

Fifteen of these new cases were isolated in designated hospitals. With five releases, the total of isolation cases is now 37, a jump of 10 from the total two days ago.

Of the 37 isolated, three are probable cases, 10 suspected and 24 notification. Two days ago, the numbers were two, eight and 17 respectively.

Four foreigners are among those under isolation.

Thirteen people - 11 linked to the latest probable patient and another two to the Indian national who was the fourth - are under home quarantine now.

The 85 people quarantined for links with the third probable patient from Penang earlier have been cleared as at yesterday.

Meanwhile, the 64-year-old woman and her 12-year-old granddaughter from Perlis who were classified as notification cases yesterday have had their illness confirmed as not Sars-related.

The Johor state health department managed to contact the girl's mother who is working in Singapore and has also given the latter a clean bill of health where Sars is concerned.