The scale of the threat posed by what the world now knows as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is still unquantified and its precise cause is still unknown.

For the victims and their families, whose numbers continue to mount, it is a personal tragedy. But the damage has been amplified by the fear that has travelled in its wake.

This now threatens a social and economic disaster for the worst-hit regions of the Far East, as businesses and schools are closed, airlines cancel flights and tourism slumps.

Although the first recorded case was in Foshan, Guangdong province, on Nov. 16 last year, the Chinese authorities did not inform the World Health Organization of the outbreak until mid-February, and WHO officials were still working to confirm it.

Had they had earlier warning, the disease might have been contained in mainland China and the rest of the world spared.

Today the disease appears to be under control, or close to being so, in most countries around the world, thanks to the WHO's early-warning system that alerted medical authorities to the risks posed by SARS before the disease had a chance to gain a foothold and spread. Source.

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