A patient sparked an alert after arriving at an accident and emergency department with a suspected case of the Sars virus.

Staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton isolated the patient and carried out tests which proved to be negative.

The hospital says it has seen a handful of people during the past few weeks who were feeling unwell and were concerned because they had been travelling in the Far East.

The latest patient arrived at the hospital during the Easter weekend.

A hospital spokesman said: "There have been no cases of the virus here.

"However, we are on heightened awareness and if a person arrives at the hospital who staff believe may possibly be infected, we have to follow a certain procedure.

"This includes using face masks as a precaution and isolating the patient until necessary checks are made."

Brighton and Hove City Primary Care Trust said the Department of Health had sent out guidance toall hospitals, doctors and clinics on how to deal with suspected cases of Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

Health bosses stress only people who have travelled to affected countries recently are likely to be at risk and the virus can only be contracted through close contact with someone infected.

The World Health Organisation is telling people to avoid Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong and has now added Beijing, China's Shanxi province and Toronto to the list.

Toronto is the first location outside of Asia to be targeted in the tightening-up of international travel aimed at stemming the outbreak.

The Government is urging people to avoid travelling to affected areas.

Further information is available at www.phls.co.uk