Heightened Alert as Killer Bug Cases Rise By Patricia Reaney

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists worked Monday to identify the cause of a mysterious type of killer pneumonia that has spread from Asia to Canada and Europe via air travel.

Health ministries and airport authorities around the globe were on high alert as Hong Kong's Health Minister Yeoh Eng-kiong announced the number of people infected with the illness there had nearly doubled.

Although he said it was too early to talk of an epidemic, he confirmed that nearly 100 people in Hong Kong, most of them medical staff, had fallen ill.

Hours later Britain reported its first suspected case.

--Remember 12 Monkies...