Singapore, Sept 23: World Health Organisation investigators said today that a Singapore researcher became infected with Sars in a government lab and blamed insufficient lab safety training for the mistake. The 27-year-old postdoctoral student had been working on West Nile virus research in two labs in Singapore when he inexplicably came down with severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars, in late August.

"Inappropriate laboratory procedures and the cross contamination of West Nile virus samples with Sars coronavirus in the lab led to the infection of the doctoral student," said a statement from the ministry of health summarising the findings of the WHO-led inquiry. Investigators said the student most likely acquired the infection at the government-run environmental health institute.

"No evidence could be found of any other course of infection," the statement said.

The panel blamed the slip-up on "insufficient" training of lab workers and released a list of suggested safety reforms for Singapore's labs. Bureau Report