Meanwhile, all university-sponsored trips this summer to areas affected by SARS have been canceled by the University of Hawai'i.

The school administration also is monitoring health advisories in case new areas are affected and additional trips need to be canceled, said Jenny Samaan, director of the Office of International Education.

Chancellors in the university system were told about the new policy in a memo sent Wednesday.

"Any UH student, scholar or faculty member choosing to travel to, or remain in SARS-affected areas, does so at their personal risk," the memo also stated.

Chancellors were also told that students, scholars and faculty traveling to the university this summer from areas affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome should stay home if they have signs of the deadly illness.

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies cancelled trips to Vietnam and China, affecting about two dozen students and faculty, Samaan said. The University of Hawai'i-Hilo canceled two culture study tours, she said.

And with the announcement today by the World Health Organization SARS has been identified in the Philippines, a trip there may be canceled, she said.

"Is it disappointing? Certainly. To some people, they have planned their lives around incorporating international study," Samaan said.

State epidemiologist Dr. Paul Effler said the man from Shanghai arrived in Hawai'i on Tuesday to visit relatives and is resting at a private home in Honolulu.

He had conditions consistent with the disease ­ fever and respiratory illness ­ as well as exposure to an area of SARS transmission, but only lab tests can determine what he has, Effler said.

"This doesn't prove or mean for sure that this person has SARS," Effler said. "They may have another respiratory illness that's going around, but we've isolated this individual to home."

The good news, Effler said, is that the man arrived at night and went directly to his relatives' home, limiting opportunities for transmission. The man was in contact with only half a dozen relatives, who are aware of SARS and how to prevent its spread.

SARS, for severe acute respiratory syndrome, is believed to have originated in China and spread to cause significant outbreaks in Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto and Hanoi, Vietnam. As of yesterday afternoon, the World Health Organization tallied 4,439 cases of the disease, with 263 deaths.

The disease is a concern worldwide but especially worrisome in areas like Hawai'i that rely on tourism that includes a steady stream of visitors from Asia.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday reported 39 probable cases of 247 suspect cases in the United States, with no fatalities.

Hawai'i has had no confirmed cases of SARS. Of seven suspected cases, four have been ruled out, but two are considered "probable" because the patients have developed pneumonia.

Effler praised the medical response to the man from Shanghai. "They were seen at a clinic that did absolutely the appropriate precaution: isolated the individual, supplied the patient and the staff with masks, and took them to an area where they would not have contact with any other patient," he said.

Effler said he and another staffer on Wednesday collected specimens from the man and sent them to the CDC lab in Atlanta. He expects preliminary results by the end of next week.

None of the man's relatives has gotten sick and his condition yesterday had not worsened, Effler said.

Meanwhile, the news that a Kaua'i woman did not have SARS drops three people off the list because two of the others were healthcare workers who came in contact with the woman.

The three remaining cases are: the man from Shanghai, an O'ahu woman who traveled to China and returned home, and a merchant seaman who has not lived here recently but has a Hawai'i mailing address.