A University of California at Berkeley student was back in school Thursday after sitting next to a man on a flight from Tokyo who thought he had contracted a deadly virus, according to UC-Berkeley officials.

The student was kept in the plane for two hours, along with the other passengers, after it landed at San Jose International Airport Tuesday, said UC-Berkeley spokesperson Marie Felde.

Airport officials feared that some passengers had contracted the severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS.

Several passengers on the American Airlines flight complained of symptoms similar to SARS, but none of them turned out to have the deadly virus.

Doctors from the Santa Clara County Department of Health were sent aboard the plane. Passengers were subject to a voluntary examination and were later released.

The Center for Disease Control advised the student to put herself into “temporary quarantine” until further notice, Felde said.

The student stayed home from school for one day until the Center for Disease Control later reported that none of the passengers were infected with SARS, Felde said.

The virus originated in Asia and has spread throughout Asia, North America and Europe.

So far, more than 2,200 people around the world have been diagnosed with SARS, and at least 79 have died from it.

As of Thursday, 31 cases have been found in California, according to an Associated Press report.

UC-Berkeley’s Tang Center is taking measures in response to the possible spread, said Dr. Pete Dietrich, medical director of University Health Services.

Clinical staff received training on responding to people with SARS symptoms and are updated with new developments about the virus, he said.

University Health Services also provides students with information about the virus on its Web site.

“People are not panicked about it,” Dietrich said. “(Students) just want reassurance, and so far we’ve provided that.”

The main symptoms of SARS include fever, cough and respiratory problems, said UC Berkeley Professor Arthur Reingold, head of the Division of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health.

“At the moment, the case definition for SARS is unspecific because many other sicknesses are similar and have similar symptoms,” Reingold said.

Reingold said he expects the rate of the deadly virus’s spread will decrease as more is learned about it.

SARS is a respiratory illness first reported in Asia.

This highly infectious airborne disease spreads like the common cold.

-U-Wire Press release