A seventh probable Sars patient and two new suspected cases involving truck drivers have been detected in Kuala Lumpur, all of whom are thought to have contracted the disease in Singapore, the health ministry said today.

The ministry's deputy director-general Ismail Merican said a 28-year-old woman who had a fever, cough and difficulty breathing after visiting her boyfriend in Singapore last month has been diagnosed as a probable Sars case.

She sought treatment at a private clinic o­n April 26 but was o­nly hospitalised five days later, he said, adding that her condition was stable and further tests were being carried out.

This brings probable SARS cases in the country to seven, including two deaths. Four others have been discharged.

Sick in Singapore

Ismail said the new suspected Sars cases involved two truck drivers, both aged 35, who had delivered goods to Singapore.

He said o­ne of them fell sick in Singapore o­n April 28 but managed to slip through screening at the causeway to cross into Malaysia's southern Johor state o­n May 1.

"A lot of (truck) drivers and attendants have been infected in Singapore. We have told our officers at the causeway to tighten screening for (truck) drivers," he told reporters.

Ismail described screening at the causeway and a second link in Johor state bordering Singapore as a major "headache" because some 100,000 people travel through the areas daily.

The ministry "hopes by next week" that thermal imaging systems capable of scanning big crowds could be set up at the land border to detect travellers with a raised temperature, a symptom of Sars, he said.

Ismail also said the government may discuss a move to ban Malaysians from visiting Singapore and other Sars-affected countries, but such a measure was unlikely.

"I don't think so, especially with Singapore. It's going to be messy. All our people working there are going to be up in arms. We have to provide them food, lodging, work," he said.

Rais Yatim, minister in the prime minister's department in charge of legal affairs, told the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia that the government could seize the passports of citizens who refused to heed its advice not to travel to Sars-affected countries.

Arrivals drop

Thousands of Malaysians travel daily to work in the island-state, where 26 people have died of Sars. Singaporeans are also the biggest group of visitors to Malaysia.

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

The Sunday Star quoted the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agencies (Matta) as saying that its members reported an 80 percent drop in Singaporean arrivals.

It said arrivals from China have also dropped to near zero while those from Hong Kong and Taiwan were down by 90 percent. Other markets have fallen by an average of 50 percent while outbound business dropped by 70 percent, Matta said.

Matta is urging the government to provide loans of up to RM250,000 ringgit (US$65,789) and other tax incentives to its cash-strapped members in an economic stimulus package expected to be unveiled mid-May.