Here’s some background information about SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome. Since 2004, there have been no known cases of SARS reported anywhere in the world.
SARS is an acute viral respiratory illness brought on by a coronavirus.
Symptoms include fever, cough, severe headache, dizziness and other flu-like complaints.
The illness presents as an atypical pneumonia that does not respond to standard treatments.
There were 8,098 confirmed cases of SARS from November 2002 to July 2003, with 774 deaths.
November 16, 2002 – What will become known as SARS is first reported in Foshan, China.
November 2002-February 2003 – Five people die and more than 300 are reported ill of SARS in Guangdong province, China.
February 15-22, 2003 – Liu Jianlun develops SARS symptoms on a trip from Huang Xingchu in the Guangdong province to visit family in Hong Kong.
March 15, 2003 – The World Health Organization (WHO) issues an emergency travel advisory about the illness, calling it a “global threat.”
March 27, 2003 – Hong Kong officials have quarantined more than 1,000 people and schools close in Singapore.
March 29, 2003 – Dr. Carlo Urbani, the WHO physician who identified SARS in patient zero, dies from the virus in Bangkok.