The Health Ministry has officially reported the first case of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in Russia. The diagnosis of 25-year-old Denis Soinikov, who is currently in a Blagoveshchensk hospital close to the Russo-Chinese border, has been confirmed after a series of tests. He is currently recuperating. Health Ministry officials claim that no one else has contracted the dangerous virus from him.

Russia's chief sanitary inspector Gennady Onishchenko confirmed on Wednesday that Denis Soinikov, a resident of Blagoveshchensk, has been diagnosed with the deadly virus. ''Today we officially say that, according to all laboratory tests, we confirm the diagnosis.'' This is the first officially registered SARS case in Russia, which shares a 3,654-km border with China, the country where the virus is believed to have originated.

Top health officials said on Wednesday that a sample of the patient's blood serum revealed a large number of antiviral antibodies, which the human organism develops within a 3-week period after contamination. Those antibodies are the main proof that the patient has SARS.

Earlier, Soininkov was twice diagnosed with SARS -- a week after he requested medical assistance, showing symptoms similar to those of SARS, and then, on the basis of results of the express diagnostic tests announced last week. However, Russian health officials rescinded the diagnosis, saying they were still uncertain and wanted to carry out additional tests.

According to Gennady Onishchenko, the diagnosis was finally confirmed after Russian medical authorities received a control sample of the SARS virus. ''We received a control sample of the virus from Germany the other day, and will soon receive another one from the USA. It is now at the Vector state research centre in Novosibirsk, and we are going to dispense it to other laboratories,'' Onishchenko told the press on May 21. A control sample of the virus serves ''as a standard to confirm and control our test systems,'' Onishchenko said.

A spokesperson for the Health Ministry told Gazeta.Ru that presently Denis Soinikov is feeling much better; he has a normal temperature, though for the time being he will remain in the hospital where he is receiving treatment for possible complications.

Soinikov was admitted to the intensive care ward of an isolation hospital in Blagoveshchensk, a far-eastern town frequented by Chinese tourists and shuttle traders, on May 5. By that time he had been suffering flu-like symptoms, similar to those of "atypical pneumonia" for about ten days.

According to the health minister, no one who has come into contact with the patient contracted the virus from him. All medical staff of the hospital where the young man is receiving treatment underwent regular checkups, and the hostel where Denis lived was placed under quarantine.

Since the beginning of the SARS outbreak, in Russia over 30 suspected cases have been registered both in Russian and foreign nationals in Moscow, the far-eastern Primorye, Khabarov, Sakhalin and Amur Regions, as well as in the Siberian regions of Novossibirsk, Irkutsk and Yakutia. None of those cases, however, have been confirmed.

To prevent the spread of the disease, Russia has closed dozens of checkpoints on the border with China and Mongolia until June 4, and ordered all those arriving from SARS-hit states to undergo compulsory medical checkups at border checkpoints. However, Gazeta.Ru has learnt that those measures do not apply to everyone. In particular, members of the Chinese and Canadian official delegations, arriving in St. Petersburg to take part in the city's 300th anniversary celebrations this month, will not have to undergo any checkups. It is assumed, that they will undergo medical examinations at home before departure.

Meanwhile, some Russian media outlets reported on Wednesday that the World Health Organization (WHO) had questioned Russia's data on the spread of SARS on its territory. Gennady Onishchenko yesterday refuted the allegation saying there have been ''no official documents or complaints that we have allegedly been concealing SARS cases''. Furthermore, ''WHO is not authorized to make such complaints,'' he specified.

''My personal opinion has always been that the patient in Blagoveshchensk is infected with SARS. And as laboratory tests proceeded, I told the media and international community that the Health Ministry viewed SARS as the most likely diagnosis,'' he said.

Russia confirmed its first case of SARS as Chinese President Hu Jintao was visiting Moscow. Hu told students in Moscow, at the start of a four-nation tour, that China had introduced strict measures to stop the spread of the deadly virus and that its economy was still expanding despite warnings SARS may knock two percentage points off GDP growth.

The SARS epidemic, which started in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, has killed about 745 people and infected more than 8,200 around the world.

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