The SARS epidemic in Hong Kong: what lessons have we learned?

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reached Hong Kong in March 2003.1 From 11 March up to 6 June, a total of 1750 cases had been identified (Figure 1), and during the same period 286 people died of the disease. Before the advent of SARS in Hong Kong, the nearby Guangdong Province in Mainland China had experienced an intense outbreak of the atypical pneumonia later termed SARS. This outbreak started in November 2002 and reached its peak in February 2003; up to 5 June 2003, Guangdong had recorded 1511 cases and 57 deaths. Later in April 2003, SARS cases were reported in other provinces and cities of Mainland China including Beijing, Shanxi, Neimonggol, Tianjin and Hebei. Up to 5 June 2003, Mainland China had a total of 5329 cases with 336 reported deaths.2 Figure 1 Severe acute respiratory syndrome cases, Hong Kong, March-June 2003 From March onwards, SARS was detected in other countries and areas in the Asia-Pacific region. By the beginning of June, Singapore had had 205 cases with 28 deaths, Vietnam 63 cases with 5 deaths and Taiwan 686 cases with 81 deaths.