Officials from Singapore and Malaysia met in the island-republic today and exchanged information on contingency plans to deal with a possible resurgence of Sars, the neighbouring countries said in a joint statement.

The fourth Malaysia-Singapore bilateral meeting on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) was held to "enable the two countries to keep each other abreast of the preparations taken in anticipation of a possible resurgence of SARS," the statement said.

Both sides agreed to maintain vigilance and to work closely together to deal with any future outbreaks in accordance with the framework established during the last Sars outbreak for information exchange and border checks.

Latest case

The Singapore officials also briefed their Malaysian counterparts on a recent laboratory-acquired Sars case in Singapore and the lessons learned from the incident.

"Both sides were pleased with the outcome of the meeting and looked forward to strengthening bilateral cooperation on Sars," the statement said.

The next meeting will be held in Kuala Lumpur.

Sars infected more than 8,000 people and killed nearly 800, mostly in East Asia, after it appeared in southern China almost a year ago, and there are fears it will stage a comeback in the winter months.

The epidemic peaked between March and May, hitting tourism and related industries particularly hard.

A Singaporean researcher who worked on other viruses came down with Sars last month. Experts said he was probably infected in the laboratory of the Environmental Health Institute (EHI).

Environment Minister Lim Swee Say has apologised for the case and took full responsibility for the infection. There has since been no new case. - AFP