Government spokesman Lin Chia-lung told reporters: 'Our experts said they believe the domestic outbreak could be fully controlled before the end of this month, provided there is no new mass infection, like the event at the Hoping hospital.'

The Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital was closed on April 24 and some 1,100 patients and medical staff were isolated under forced quarantine orders following mass infections in its wards.

It was the largest cluster of Sars cases in a nation that has so far recorded 14 deaths, 10 of them linked to the hospital, and 125 infections.

The authorities have so far adopted a two-pronged attack against the disease. They are enforcing compulsory quarantine orders on suspected cases and have tightened travel restrictions to and from other Sars-affected areas.

Mr Lin said the government is also preparing to designate several hospitals as Sars-only treatment centres.

But he warned the number of cases could still jump before it peaked in Taiwan.

'Given the experiences of Hongkong and Singapore, the number of Sars cases could reach 800 in Taiwan,' he said.

Taiwan's Department of Health reported three new Sars deaths on Wednesday and five more cases.

With the Hoping hospital outbreak apparently on the wane, authorities have begun shifting their focus to preventing the deadly disease from spreading to outlying communities.

Mr Chiou Shu-ti, head of the Taipei Bureau of Health, said: 'The battle to curb Sars from spreading to (other) communities began once the mass infection at the Hoping hospital began abating.'

To help contain the fast-spreading virus, the World Health Organization has sent a two-person team to Taiwan.

They have visited hospitals and local health officials during their low-profile visit, which began on Saturday. -- AFP