The first such outbreak originated in Guangdong, a southern province of the People’s Republic of China, in mid-November of 2002. The disease was named severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The cause was shown to be a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV), an animal virus that had crossed the species barrier and infected humans. The most likely reservoir were bats, with evidence that the virus was transmitted to a human through an intermediate host, probably a palm civet or raccoon dog (8,9).