Who was the first person to name SARS and who was the first person to discover it?

November 16, 2002

The initial cases of SARS appear in the Guangdong Province, South China.

February 14, 2003

A small notice in the Weekly Epidemiological Record reports 305 cases and 5 deaths from an unknown acute respiratory syndrome which occurred between 16 November and 9 February 2003 in the Guangdong Province, China. (WHO WER 7/2003) The illness is spread to household members and healthcare workers. The Chinese Ministry of Health informs the WHO that the outbreak in Guangdong is clinically consistent with atypical pneumonia. Further investigations rule out anthrax, pulmonary plague, leptospirosis, and hemorrhagic fever.

Two weeks later, at the end of February, the Chinese Ministry of Health reports that the infective agent causing the outbreak of the atypical pneumonia was probably Chlamydia pneumoniae. (WHO WER 9/2003)

February 21

A 65-year-old medical doctor from Guangdong checks into the 9th floor of the Metropole hotel in Hong Kong. He had treated patients with atypical pneumonia prior to departure and is symptomatic upon arrival in Hong Kong. He infects at least 12 other guests and visitors to the 9th floor of the hotel (WHO. SARS: Status of the Outbreak).

February 28

Dr Carlo Urbani, a WHO official based in Vietnam, is alarmed by these cases of atypical pneumonia in the French Hospital, where he has been asked to assist. He is concerned it might be avian influenza, and notifies the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

March 7

New reports of outbreaks of a severe form of pneumonia come in from Hong Kong, and Vietnam. The outbreak in Vietnam traces back to a middle-aged man who was admitted to hospital in Hanoi with a high fever, dry cough, myalgia and mild sore throat. Following his admission, approximately 20 hospital staff become sick with similar symptoms. In some cases, this is followed by bilateral pneumonia and progression to acute respiratory distress.

March 10

Eighteen healthcare workers on a medical ward in the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong report that they are ill. Within hours, more than 50 of the hospital's healthcare workers are identified as having had a febrile illness over the previous few days. On March 11, 23 of them are admitted to the hospital for observation as a precautionary measure. Eight develop early X-ray signs of pneumonia (Lee et al.) The outbreaks, both in Hanoi and Hong Kong, appear to be confined to the hospital environment. Hospital staff seem to be at highest risk.

The new syndrome is now designated "severe acute respiratory syndrome", or SARS.