![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/SARS_map.svg/640px-SARS_map.svg.png&w=640&q=50)
2002–2004 SARS outbreak
Epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome originating in China / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), infected over 8,000 people from 30 countries and territories, and resulted in at least 774 deaths worldwide.[1]
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2021) |
2002–2004 SARS outbreak | |
---|---|
![]() A map of the infected countries of the epidemic of SARS between 1 November 2002 and 7 August 2003 Countries with confirmed deaths Countries with confirmed infections Countries without confirmed cases | |
![]() A map of SARS cases and deaths around the world regarding the global population | |
Disease | SARS |
Virus strain | SARS-CoV-1 |
Location | Worldwide (Mostly in East Asia) |
First outbreak | Shunde, Guangdong, China |
Index case | 16 November 2002 |
Arrival date | Early 2003 |
Date | 16 November 2002 – 19 May 2004 (1 year, 6 months and 3 days) |
Confirmed cases | 8,096 |
Deaths | 774 |
Territories | Around 30 countries |
The outbreak was first identified in Foshan, Guangdong, China, in November 2002.[2] The World Health Organization (WHO) was notified of the outbreak in February 2003, and issued a global alert in March 2003. Initially, the cause of the outbreak was unknown, and some media outlets reported that an influenza virus was a potential culprit.[3] The major part of the outbreak lasted about 8 months, and the World Health Organization declared SARS contained on 5 July 2003. However, several SARS cases were reported until May 2004.[4]
In late December 2019, SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus in the same genus as the one that caused SARS, was discovered in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It spread to other areas of Asia, and then worldwide in early 2020. This strain causes COVID-19, which has caused the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has caused 7,050,691 confirmed deaths.[5][6]