SARS TREK
Jet-setting virus circles the globe
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ALERTS AND TRAVEL ADVISORIES NOTWITHSTANDING, 21ST CENTURY'S FIRST MAJOR DISEASE OUTBREAK WASTED NO TIME BOARDING AIRPLANES AND CRISS-CROSSING THE GLOBE.
WHAT BEGAN AS A SEEMINGLY INNOCUOUS CASE OF ATYPICAL PNEUMONIA IN CHINA'S SOUTHERN PROVINCE, WHICH THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT TRIED IN VAIN TO SWEEP UNDER THE RUG, TRAVELED FROM GUANGDONG TO HONG KONG, COURTESY OF GUANGDONG MEDICAL PROFESSOR DR. LIU JIANLUN, WHO VISITED HONG KONG THIRD WEEK OF FEBRUARY. IN HONG KONG, HE INFECTED 13 HOTEL GUESTS AT THE METROPOLE HOTEL, INCLUDING CHINESE-AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN JOHNNY CHEN, WHO BROUGHT WITH HIM THE VIRUS TO HANOI, AND KWAN SUI-CHU, WHO LATER FLEW TO TORONTO AND BECAME CANADA'S FIRST SARS CASUALTY. THE OTHER GUESTS ARE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR SPREADING THE VIRUS IN HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE AS WELL.
MAINLAND CHINA HAS BORNE THE BRUNT OF THE EPIDEMIC, ACCOUNTING FOR 5,325 (64 PERCENT) OF TOTAL CASES AND 327 (43.6 PERCENT) OF ALL DEATHS. HONG KONG AND CHINA ACCOUNT FOR 85 PERCENT OF CASES AND 80 PERCENT OF DEATHS.
HERE IS THE AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE'S CHRONOLOGY OF KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE GLOBAL SARS OUTBREAK THAT AS OF MAY 29 HAS LEFT 750 DEAD AND 8,295 INFECTED IN CHINA (INCLUDING HONG KONG, TAIWAN, AND MACAU) AND 28 OTHER COUNTRIES.
February 11
The government of Guangdong says 305 people contracted atypical pneumonia in the province between November 16 and February 9 and five died, the first announcement by the Chinese authorities on the outbreak of the disease later to become known as SARS.
February 22
Dr. Liu Jianlun, a 64-year-old medical professor from Guangdong, is admitted to hospital in Hong Kong after falling ill while staying at the Metropole Hotel, where he infected 13 other guests, including those believed to be responsible for the initial outbreaks of SARS in Canada, Singapore and Vietnam. He dies on March 4.
February 26
Johnny Chen, a 50-year-old Chinese-American who was a guest at the Metropole Hotel, is admitted to Hanoi's French Hospital after falling ill while on a trip to Vietnam. Dozens of French Hospital staff begin falling sick and Chen is evacuated to Hong Kong, where he dies on March 13.
March 5
Kwan Sui-chu, 78, who stayed at the Metropole Hotel at the same time as Dr. Liu, dies in Toronto, the first SARS death in Canada. Her 43-year-old son, Tse Chi-kwai, dies of SARS on March.
March 12
The WHO issues a "global alert" to health authorities worldwide about a severe form of pneumonia following outbreaks in Hong Kong, southern China, and Vietnam.
March 13
Singapore reports the first cases of atypical pneumonia in the city-state-three people who stayed at the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong.
March 15
The WHO issues an emergency travel advisory due to the outbreak of the disease, which it calls Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome for the first time. A Vietnamese nurse at Hanoi's French Hospital dies, the first SARS death in Vietnam. Jean-Paul Derosier, 65, a French anesthetist who treated the first SARS patient in Vietnam, dies of the disease four days later.
March 26
Singapore reports its first death from SARS, closes schools, and issues quarantine orders to 740 people.
March 27
The WHO recommends that countries most affected by SARS screen international passengers at airports, a measure since taken up by a number of governments around the world. Hong Kong shuts schools and invokes a quarantine law.
March 28
The WHO says the first case of SARS has been traced back to November 16 in Foshan city in Guangdong.
March 29
Dr. Carlo Urbani dies of SARS in a Bangkok hospital. Urbani treated the first SARS patient in Vietnam and alerted the WHO to the new respiratory disease.
April 2
The WHO issues an advisory against non-essential travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong, the first such warning in its 55-year history.
April 3
A four-member WHO team begins a visit to Guangdong after finally receiving permission from the Chinese authorities.
April 5
Malaysia announces its first SARS death-a 64-year-old man who died on March 30 after returning from visits to China and Singapore.
April 8
Global death toll exceeds 100 as Canada reports six more SARS deaths.
April 9
South Africa announces its first probable SARS case-a 62-year-old businessman who returned from a trip to Hong Kong. He dies of heart attack on April 29 but doctors say his death is unrelated to SARS.
April 12
The Michael Smith Genome Sciences Center in Vancouver, British Columbia, announces its researchers have cracked the genetic code of the coronavirus thought to have caused SARS.
April 14
A Filipino nursing assistant who came home from Toronto dies in Manila, the first confirmed SARS death in the Philippines.
April 16
The WHO confirms that SARS is caused by the coronavirus.
April 20
China admits there are hundreds more cases of SARS in Beijing than previously reported and sacks Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong.
April 23
The WHO extends its warning against non-essential travel to Toronto, Beijing, and Shanxi province in northern China.
April 28
The WHO removes Vietnam from the list of SARS-affected countries, making it the first country to have contained SARS.
April 30
Beijing's acting mayor Wang Qishan warns that the SARS situation in the Chinese capital is "severe." Global death toll rises to 372, infections to 5,660.
May 5
New medical research by the WHO suggests the coronavirus that causes SARS is more resilient than first thought and could survive for weeks outside the human body.
May 8
The WHO trebles its estimated death rate to 14 to15 percent from five to six percent, citing more comprehensive data, issues an advisory warning against all travel to China's Inner Mongolia and Tianjin provinces, and extends the alert to Taipei.
May 12
Quarantine efforts in China continue, with more than 23,000 in Beijing confined to home. Roche officials in Singapore announce that they hope to make an effective SARS diagnostic test available by July.
May 13
Beijing authorities say the outbreak in the city is under control but WHO officials warn their conclusions are premature as much data are missing or flawed.
May 15
China warns it may execute SARS patients who violate quarantine in the most radical step to contain the epidemic. WHO gives Canada a clean bill of health. Britain reports its first case of SARS.
May 17
The WHO cautions that a decline in new SARS infections in China could be due to misdiagnosis rather than a slowing of the outbreak. Taiwan suspends direct links with the mainland in a bid to control the fatal disease.
May 18
An eleventh-hour report of infection in Singapore spoils its bid to be stricken off the WHO list of SARS-affected countries. The infection rate in Taiwan continues to skyrocket, as it reports a record number of infections for the second straight day.
May 19
At the annual assembly of the WHO, outgoing head Gro Harlem Brundtland says SARS has served as a global "wake-up call" and urges greater international cooperation in the battles against worldwide health epidemics.
May 22
SARS escalates in Taiwan, which reports still another record-breaking day of infections. An island-wide travel alert is issued by the WHO.
May 23
Researchers link the SARS virus to the endangered civet cat, a popular delicacy in the markets of Guangdong.
May 24
The Taiwanese government insists the SARS epidemic on the island is being brought under control as the number of new cases falls sharply. Hong Kong reports no new cases of SARS for the first time. Toronto is once again grappling with SARS fears after officials announced potential new cases, including two deaths, in two Toronto hospitals. Mainland China is buoyed by a downward trend in SARS cases in Beijing, as reports of cases continue to decline.
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