The Health Ministry today said it was "unlikely" that the recent death of a sailor with Sars symptoms was linked to the killer epidemic, but that more than 200 people remained under quarantine as a "precautionary measure".

"He is labelled as non-Sars at the moment but we need to wait for the results of further tests to determine whether it is a Sars death or not," the ministry deputy director-general Dr Mohd Ismail Merican told reporters.

Ismail said the victim was labelled as non-Sars because he had no history of contact with anyone from Sars-affected areas and the ship he was o­n had remained in port for the past three weeks.

The 21-year-old navy sergeant had fallen ill o­n May 13 with cough and fever. He was hospitalised o­n May 20 and died May 24, Ismail said.

"Even though this death is unlikely to be Sars, the defence ministry and the health ministry have worked together to make sure that all staff are protected," Ismail said.

MAS crew under quarantine

A total of 202 crew members from the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Lekiu have been placed under quarantine in barracks in Lumut, northern Perak state following the death, Ismail said.

Twenty-five of them had upper respiratory tract infections and had been "hospitalised as a precautionary measure," Ismail said.

Medical staff who were in contact with the sailor have also been quarantined along with six patients who were in his ward, he said.

The victim was the second member of the ship's crew to die in the last three days. Another died earlier of dengue fever.

Ismail said 20 more Malaysian Airlines crew members who returned from Taipei over the weekend had been placed under home quarantine, in addition to 19 quarantined o­n Friday.

They had stayed in the same hotel in Taipei as Chesley Richards, a specialist from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who was feared to have contracted Sars, he said.

Malaysia has listed o­nly five probable cases including two deaths. AFP