Time line for SARS outbreak
November 2002 - February 2003: Hundreds of people in China's Guangdong province are hospitalized with a mysterious respiratory illness. Five of the cases are fatal.
Feb. 15, 2003: A man, known as patient A, from Guangdong province develops symptoms of SARS. He travels to Hong Kong to visit family.
Feb. 21, 2003: Patient A checks into a hotel. He infects 12 other people in the same hotel. Investigators say these patients in turn spread the illness to others in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Ireland, Germany and Canada.
Feb. 22: Patient A is hospitalized in Hong Kong. He dies the next day. Four hospital workers and two of his family members become ill. One family member dies.
March 5, 2003: A 78-year-old woman who had traveled to Hong Kong in February dies of SARS in Toronto.
March 11, 2003: Ninety-nine SARS cases among health care workers are linked to patient J, a man who stayed at the same Hong Kong hotel as patient A.
March 13, 2003: An American suffering from breathing troubles dies in Hong Kong after being transferred from a Hanoi hospital. Soon after, health workers in both hospitals develop similar symptoms.
March 17, 2003: Canadian health officials report 11 cases of SARS in Toronto, British Columbia and Alberta.
March 27, 2003: WHO requests that airlines screen passengers for SARS on flights leaving from Hong Kong, Singapore, Hanoi, Toronto and parts of China. WHO reports more than 1,400 cases worldwide, including 53 deaths.
March 28, 2003: Chinese officials report a ten-fold increase in the number of SARS-related deaths in Guangdong province; 10 new cases surface in Beijing.
March 29, 2003: Health officials in Ontario, Canada, report around 100 probable SARS cases in the province.
April 1, 2003: Hong Kong health officials say the city now has nearly 700 SARS cases. WHO advises travelers to stay away from Hong Kong and China. In Canada, the death toll from SARS reaches six.
April 2, 2003: China reports 361 new cases of SARS for the month of March; the total number of cases in Guangdong province rises to 1,153.
April 4, 2003: WHO officials report a total of 2,353 probable SARS cases, 84 of them fatal, in 16 countries.
April 6, 2003: Canadian health officials report the number of suspected and probable SARS cases in that nation has surpassed 130, including nine deaths.
April 8, 2003: The total number of probable SARS cases worldwide reaches 2,671, including 103 deaths, according to the WHO.
April 9: WHO investigators present an initial report on the Guangdong outbreak of SARS. The researchers report evidence of highly contagious spreaders capable of infecting as many of 100 persons.
April 19, 2003: Another 12 people die of SARS in Hong Kong, bringing the region's death toll to 81 -- the highest of any location affected by the outbreak.
April 20, 2003: Chinese officials report 12 new SARS-related deaths and 400 new cases of infection -- a tenfold increase -- in Beijing.
April 28, 2003: According the WHO, worldwide, there are now more than 5,000 probable cases of SARS and 321 fatalities in 26 countries.
May 2, 2003: As of early May, the WHO reports more than 5,600 probable cases of SARS -- 391 of them fatal -- 30 countries.
May 8, 2003: The WHO also now says the SARS death rate is 15 percent -- twice as high as earlier reported. Worldwide, more than 7,000 cases and 500 deaths are reported.
May 23, 2003: The WHO lifts advisories on travel to Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province. Worldwide, more than 8,000 cases and 680 deaths are reported.
May 29, 2003: Toronto reports a second outbreak.
July 2003: WHO officials consider the SARS threat under control and lift all travel advisories. To date, 8,099 people in 32 countries have been infected, with 744 of those cases fatal. No new cases have been reported since July.
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