The government today ordered a quarantine for 125 lorry drivers who had visited a Sars-infected produce market in Singapore and urged its neighbour to tighten screening measures at their border.

The health department in Johor said it was tracking down the drivers who had visited the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market, which was shut down Saturday after a worker was diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).

"Once we find them, we will quarantine them and their families for 10 days," the state's health committee chairman Halimah Mohamed Sadique was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

Johor has screened some 1.2 million tourists so far for the Sars virus and sent 45 for further hospital tests but all have been discharged, she added.

The quarantine order came as the health ministry announced five new suspected Sars cases, including two recent visitors to Singapore.

Being more vigilant

Among the patients was a 34-year-old lorry driver in Kedah who had delivered computers to Singapore o­n April 17, said health ministry deputy director-general Dr Mohd Ismail Merican.

Ismail said the ministry was investigating why the driver was allowed to cross the causeway in Johor to Singapore, and back, when he had been suffering from a fever and cough since April 12. The driver was warded April 19.

"We are a bit concerned about what's happening at the causeway. If he's sick, he should not have been allowed across," Ismail told reporters.

Two Sars patients have died in Malaysia. Singapore has reported at least 16 deaths out of 184 probable SARS cases.

"We are worried about cases from Singapore. We hope people will be more vigilant, more careful, not be complacent especially with the huge amount of traffic."

A health ministry official told AFP that Singapore has pre-departure screening measures at airports and seaports but has not imposed this o­n travellers using the causeway and a bridge linking both countries.

Both countries earlier this month set up a joint border health committee to tighten controls at entry points.

Thousands of Malaysians travel daily to the island-state to work. Singaporeans are also the biggest group of visitors to Malaysia. -- AFP