Until 2002, SARS was a little known disease. The respiratory infection was first reported in the province of Guangdong. The illness the spread across 32 countries, five of which (Canada, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore) were very seriously affected. Almost 9,000 suspected cases of SARS were reported during the 8 month epidemic. 

The epidemic ended in 2003, but a number of new cases of suspected SARS were also reported in China 2004. One patient died. All these cases were probably related to just two laboratory workers.

On 18 May 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that SARS was under control.