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Beginning
The first case of atypical pneumonia is reported in the Guangdong province in southern China. -
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Sars Pandemic
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The World Health Organization (WHO) issues a global alert for a severe form of pneumonia of unknown origin in persons from China, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. -
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CDC issues first health alert and hosts media telebriefing about an atypical pneumonia that has been named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). CDC issues interim guidelines for state and local health departments on SARS. -
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CDC laboratory analysis suggests a new coronavirus may be the cause of SARS. In the United States, 39 suspect cases (to date) had been identified. Of those cases, 32 of 39 had traveled to countries were SARS was reported. -
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CDC extended its travel advisory for SARS to include all of mainland China and added Singapore. CDC quarantine staff began meeting planes, cargo ships and cruise ships coming either directly or indirectly to the United States from China, Singapore and Vietnam and also begins distributing health alert cards to travelers. -
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CDC publishes a sequence of the virus believed to be responsible for the global epidemic of SARS. Identifying the genetic sequence of a new virus is important to treatment and prevention efforts. The results came just 12 days after a team of scientists and technicians began working around the clock to grow cells taken from the throat culture of a SARS patient. -
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In the United States, no new probable cases were reported in the last 24 hours, and there was no evidence of ongoing transmission beyond the initial case reports in travelers for more than 20 days. The containment in the United States has been successful. -
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CDC updated the SARS case definition which reduced the number of U.S. cases by half. The change results from excluding cases in which blood specimens that were collected more than 21 days after the onset of illness test negative. -
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Globally, WHO received reports of SARS from 29 countries and regions; 8,096 persons with probable SARS resulting in 774 deaths. In the United States, eight SARS infections were documented by laboratory testing and an additional 19 probable SARS infections were reported