GENEVA, April 16 (Reuters) - Russian health authorities have quarantined 53 people after a woman died of an unknown illness on board a train headed to Moscow, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. The woman, from mainland China, had been on a train heading from the Far Eastern city of Blagoveshchensk on Wednesday when she died suddenly, causing alarm. Earlier on Thursday, Radio Television Hong Kong reported that the woman may have died from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, a contagious disease that spread worldwide and killed at least 774 people in 2002 and 2003. WHO spokeswoman Sari Setiogi said the U.N. health agency had not received any information to support the report, nor have Russian authorities identified SARS as the cause of the death. "At the moment there are 53 contacts of the woman in quarantine in hospital," Setiogi told reporters. "Samples have been taken from the woman and her contacts and laboratory investigations are ongoing." The WHO could not confirm her age. WHO authorities are working with Russian authorities to track the case and ensure it did not represent an international public health threat, Setiogi said. It can take days or longer to establish causes of death and many illnesses and infections have similar symptoms, making it very difficult to reach such conclusions quickly. (Reporting by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Two 13-month-old white Bengal tigers are seen at the Haifa zoo April 16, 2009. The tigers arrived from Russia on Monday, and were displayed for the first time on Thursday. REUTERS/GiL ...
