- MUMBAI, India (Reuters) --
Twenty-five wedding guests were quarantined in Pune on Tuesday after a
bride infected with the deadly SARS virus insisted on getting married in
a church despite pleas from doctors, officials said.
The bride, whose mother and brother also tested positive for the flu-like
bug that has killed 225 people worldwide, wed on Monday under the gaze
of government doctors in the church in Pune.
After the ceremony, the bride was rushed to hospital to join her brother
and mother who were already in an isolation unit. The 25 guests, who included
four children, were quarantined in separate apartments.
"This should have not happened. I was shocked," Maharashtra state
health minister Digvijay Khanvilkar told Reuters. He added the couple had
rejected appeals from medical officials to delay the wedding.
Doctors believe the bride was infected by her brother, who arrived in India
from Indonesia this month. The three family members are all doing well
in hospital, doctors said.
The groom and the priest who conducted the ring-exchange ceremony have
been asked to stay in isolation in their homes, Pune Municipal Corp health
chief Dr. Anil Ravetkar told Reuters.
"We've been keeping the guests under observation in three apartments
since last night," Ravetkar said. "We've asked them not to step
outside and our doctors are keeping a round-the-clock vigil." He said
they would stay in quarantine for a week.
The bride, mother and brother brought to four the number of Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome or SARS cases in India. Last week, doctors in Goa
reported the first case in an engineer who visited Hong Kong and Singapore.
Doctors in Nasik also said they were awaiting results of SARS tests on
a man who arrived from the United States and had symptoms of the contagious
illness, which is can be fatal and has no known cure.
Some doctors have expressed fears SARS could reach epidemic proportions
in India?the world's second most populous nation?due its congested cities,
overstretched health system and media reports of lax airport screening.
But government officials have downplayed chances.
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