User:XXDG4015Xx/SARS

Lead
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the syndrome caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. In the 2010s, Chinese scientists traced the virus through the intermediary of Asian palm civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Xiyang Yi Ethnic Township, Yunnan.

SARS was a relatively rare disease; at the end of the epidemic in June 2003, the incidence was 8,469 cases with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 11%. No cases of SARS-CoV-1 have been reported worldwide since 2004.

In December 2019, a second strain of SARS-CoV was identified: SARS-CoV-2. This strain causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the disease behind the COVID-19 pandemic.

Containment
According to a policy review from the CDC, the methods for the successful containment were the more traditional yet aggressive public health and safety measures.1 This includes case finding and isolation, strict quarantines, and intensified procedures to control infection in all caregiving settings. All patients and those exposed to patients were under these rules, and caregiving settings included healthcare facilities but, in many cases, the homes of patients as well.

In the midst of the 2003 outbreak of SARS, the WHO Global Meeting on the Epidemiology of SARS (May 16-17) produced a consensus document2 which went into detail on specific practices to execute based on the outbreak data at the time. Overall, it was stated that basic public health measures as outlined above were indeed effective at the time to control the virus, however this and other publications later that year3 emphasized the need for more research into what specific policies were doing to combat the spread.

Among these specific policies, some traditional methods were later found to have had little to no effect on containment. Entry screening, for example, through personal health declarations or thermal scanning at international borders had little documented effect on detection, and thus infected persons were free to spread the disease to others.4

From these containment practices, health officials were able to understand potential practices to use in future pandemics in which there are no available vaccines or effective treatment available. From the CDC, SARS outbreaks showed that early and bold use of traditional interventions cited above could contain less transmissible infections. For more transmissible infections, these practices could not completely contain the virus, but could at least give the world more time to produce a vaccine or prepare in other ways.1 This phenomenon was especially exhibited during the fight to contain COVID-19.

 Society and Culture 

Because of the origin of the virus, there were widespread stigmas surrounding the Asian community.5 Plus due to media coverage, misinformation and constant association with Asia was prevalent for SARS which created heightened anxiety. In Canada, the virus was widely compared to Spanish Influenza despite it being significantly less deadly. The panic and racialization left Asian communities vulnerable. In Toronto, for example, Asian-owned small-businesses were found to have lost up to 80% of their income in 2003 from the SARS scare. In response, community organizations mobilized to combat racial profiling, advocating for awareness and support. The aftermath of SARS underscores the need for inclusive and empathetic societal responses to crises, prioritizing solidarity over scapegoating.6