The SARS positive graph in India is rising steadily and the number has shot up from seven to nine with a person from Mumbai and another from Kolkata testing positive.

The Mumbai patient was one of the two drivers of the D' Silvas of Pune who tested positive for SARS and are still in isolation at a Pune hospital. The driver is a 32-year-old and was admitted to Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, Mumbai after he complained of cough and fever. "His samples were sent to NIV, Pune and the results of blood and urine have shown him positive for SARS," Director General of Health Services Dr S P Agarwal said.

His co-driver, a 29-year old is also being treated at the same Mumbai hospital and his samples have sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. "The results are awaited," the DGHS added.

The other patient to test positive for SARS is a 36-year-old person from Kolkata, who was admitted for two days in a Bangkok hospital before he returned to India on April 19 and was admitted to the Infectious Diseases hospital, Kolkata. "The reports of his samples at NIV has tested positive," Dr Agarwal said.

Forty-six cases of suspected SARS have been tested at National Institute of Virology and National Institute of Communicable Diseases, out of which nine have tested positive, results of nine are awaited and the rest were negative. To cope up with the growing pressure on these two SARS testing labs, the health ministry is setting up testing facilities at four more places in the country, according to the DGHS.

These institutes, which have facilities for PCR tests and gene sequencing are National Institute of Communicable and other Entric Diseases, Kolkata, TB Research Centre, Chennai, Entro-Virus Research Centre, Mumbai and National AIDS Research Institute, Pune. "They will be operational in around a weeks' time. We are equipping them with primers needed for SARS tests and training them," Dr Agarwal added.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, Prof N K Ganguly revealed that a team of scientists from three top scientific institutes visited the National Institute of Virology, Pune to check the SARS testing systems and 'were satisfied'. "As the scientists at NIV/NICD are being over-burdened by testing, we are looking at training scientists at more labs to conduct the tests," Ganguly added.

He, however, refused to reveal anything regarding the possible 'marine product' developed at National Institute of Oceanography. The scientists met on Sunday at NIV Pune to explore whether it can be developed into an anti-SARS drug. "We cannot share any information as other countries with more advanced technology will hijack it," he added.

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