Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

About the Response

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) was a global disease outbreak in 2003 that was caused by a coronavirus called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The illness was first reported in Asia in February 2003.

CDC worked with the World Health Organization in late February to investigate and confirm outbreaks of SARS in Southeast Asia.

The illness spread to 29 countries, where 8,096 people got SARS and 774 of them died. The SARS global outbreak was contained in July 2003.