Britain taken off Sars list by WHO after 20 clear days

Britain has been taken off the global list of areas affected by Sars but officials insisted yesterday that measures to counter the disease would not be relaxed.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) made its decision because no new cases of the virus being transmitted from one person to another in the UK had been reported for 20 days.

But the Department of Health warned against complacency and said there could still be further cases in this country. A DoH spokesman said: "Obviously, we welcome news that WHO no longer considers the UK as an affected area. However, we must not be complacent and our control measures remain as stringent as before to protect public health. We may still see more cases in this country but the key is to ensure that there is no onward transmission of Sars."

Britain was added to the WHO list on 11 April after a man was classified a "probable" case following close contact with a businessman from Hong Kong, who was later confirmed with Sars after returning home.

The Government's Health Protection Agency said the latest tally of probable Sars cases in Britain remained at six.

Sars has killed at least 413 people world-wide and more than 5,900 are said to be suffering from the virus.