GREEK authorities yesterday reported a suspected case of Sars, raising the possibility of restrictions on holidays for hundreds of thousands of British tourists.
The Association of British Travel Agents cautioned that it was too early to be alarmed by the report, saying many similar reports had proved unfounded.
Tens of thousands of Scots visit Greece each year, with dozens of flights leaving from Scottish airports each week. Sandy McPherson, Abta spokesman in Scotland, said: "It is far too premature to jump to any conclusions. The time for the travel industry to look more closely at this will be if, and when, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office decides to issue advice about travelling to Greece."
His call for calm came after it was confirmed that a Chinese marble dealer on a business trip to Europe had been hospitalised in the north of Greece and tested for Sars.
Costas Stephanis, the Greek health minister, said: "This time we have a real suspect case . . . he is a Chinese citizen who has arrived here from China."
He said the man left Shanghai on June 14 and made several stops before arriving in Greece. He arrived in Athens on June 21, after stopping off at Frankfurt, Milan, Graz in Austria, and Rome.
The man flew to Kavala in northern Greece on the day he arrived in the country and was admitted to a hospital in nearby Drama on Monday with light breathing problems. He was being treated as a suspected case of Sars in a Thessaloniki hospital, the minister said.
Mr Stephanis added that an initial rapid polymerase chain reaction test - used to detect pieces of the virus that causes Sars - had been positive.
A ministry spokesman said another PCR test would be carried out in Hamburg, Germany. The results should be available today. Researchers say only antibody tests taken between 10 and 21 days can fully confirm or rule out Sars cases.
Earlier yesterday the World Health Organisation lifted its warning against travel to Beijing, the only remaining place on its Sars blacklist
The Association of British Travel Agents cautioned that it was too early to be alarmed by the report, saying many similar reports had proved unfounded.
Tens of thousands of Scots visit Greece each year, with dozens of flights leaving from Scottish airports each week. Sandy McPherson, Abta spokesman in Scotland, said: "It is far too premature to jump to any conclusions. The time for the travel industry to look more closely at this will be if, and when, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office decides to issue advice about travelling to Greece."
His call for calm came after it was confirmed that a Chinese marble dealer on a business trip to Europe had been hospitalised in the north of Greece and tested for Sars.
Costas Stephanis, the Greek health minister, said: "This time we have a real suspect case . . . he is a Chinese citizen who has arrived here from China."
He said the man left Shanghai on June 14 and made several stops before arriving in Greece. He arrived in Athens on June 21, after stopping off at Frankfurt, Milan, Graz in Austria, and Rome.
The man flew to Kavala in northern Greece on the day he arrived in the country and was admitted to a hospital in nearby Drama on Monday with light breathing problems. He was being treated as a suspected case of Sars in a Thessaloniki hospital, the minister said.
Mr Stephanis added that an initial rapid polymerase chain reaction test - used to detect pieces of the virus that causes Sars - had been positive.
A ministry spokesman said another PCR test would be carried out in Hamburg, Germany. The results should be available today. Researchers say only antibody tests taken between 10 and 21 days can fully confirm or rule out Sars cases.
Earlier yesterday the World Health Organisation lifted its warning against travel to Beijing, the only remaining place on its Sars blacklist
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