How Common Is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome?

Where Did Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Come From?

Within weeks of the first recognized Acute Respiratory Syndrome cases, scientists had identified a coronavirus as the causative agent and immediately guessed that it was an animal virus that had crossed over to infect humans. Palm civets—small Asian weasel-like mammals —were the suspected culprit. Civets are considered a delicacy in southern China and are commonly sold in live-food markets and restaurants (Durbin, 2003). Early Acute Respiratory Syndrome victims included a waitress at a restaurant in Guangzhou, China, that served palm civet and a customer seated close to the restaurant’s animal cages.Acute Respiratory Syndrome Paper

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an infectious disease that is caused by a pathogen called SARS-associated coronavirus, a virus previously unknown. It is assumed that the transmission of this agent to humans has occurred for the first time in the context of wildlife trade. But SARS can also spread from one person to another. There is every reason to believe that the SARS-associated coronavirus or similar coronavirus persist in various wild animals of Southeast Asia and it is not impossible that one day these viruses are transmitted again from the animals to humans, triggering a new epidemic.

How Common Is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome?

In the United States, only eight people were diagnosed with confirmed Acute Respiratory Syndrome , all of whom had traveled to regions of the world where Acute Respiratory Syndrome was being transmitted. There were no Acute Respiratory Syndrome -related deaths in the United States (Durbin, 2003). Acute Respiratory Syndrome Paper