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In January 2005 it was confirmed that the wild form of SARS virus had not been seen for over 1 year and the World Health Organisation considers it to be eradicated. The SARS virus killed 916 people across four continents between 2002 and 2005, with a death rate of almost one in ten of those infected.  The page below has been left for historical reasons. Not all serious potential threats become serious health problems.
Updated 08/08/2006

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

It is expected that there will continue to be sporadic cases of  SARS particularly in China but the authorities there will apply stringent controls which will limit the spread compared to the 2003 outbreak. In early 2004, civet cats (more a mongoose than a cat) in the Guangdong province were culled after a Hong Kong virologist identified the SARS virus in the wild animal market with a particularly high rate in the civets.

For the latest information visit the WHO Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response site and click on the link for " Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)": http://www.who.int/csr/en/

The information displayed during the 2003 epidemic is displayed below.

The WHO lifted the advisory against travel to Hong Kong & Guangdong on 23rd May 2003 and by 26th June the only new cases were in Toronto and Taiwan. The new cases appearing in Toronto have been linked back to an elderly woman who had SARS without it being noticed whilst recovering from a major operation in hospital and then a convalescent home. This page will no longer be updated unless the situation changes. It is expected that sporadic cases will crop up in various areas periodically.

The cause of this infection has  been identified as a type of coronavirus but how it developed is uncertain. The suspected cases in the Great Wyrley (near Cannock) area were not SARS. On the 8th May 2003, UK cases remained at 6 with no deaths.

Suspected cases will have the following

bulletsudden onset of high fever (>38 deg C)
bulletone or more of the following throat/chest symptoms
bullet           sore throat, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing

AND one or more of the following:

bulletonset of the symptoms within 10 days (incubation period seems to be typically 4 to 7 days)  of travel to one of the areas affected. On 26th April 2003, this included 
bullet        China: Beijing, Guangdong Province , Shanxi and Hong Kong
bullet        Hanoi, Vietnam and some other parts of Vietnam.
bullet        Greater Toronto, Canada.
bullet        Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the Philippines have had cases. The majority of these cases were among people who had recently been in Hong Kong or Hanoi.
The latest list of affected countries is available here:
http://www.who.int/csr/sarsareas/en/
 
bulletonset of the symptoms within 10 days of close contact with a person with SARS ( close contact includes having cared for, having lived with or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and/or body fluids of a person with SARS)

Large numbers of people return from the Far East with flu like illnesses so only a tiny proportion may have SARS.

Travel companies and insurers are usually guided by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office ( http://www.fco.gov.uk) regarding travel to affected areas before they will allow changes to holiday arrangements or insurance payouts.

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Homepage last modified: August 25, 2008.