SARS Pandemic

At the turn of the of the millennium, a terrible strain of coronavirus took over the world. This type of coronavirus causes a disease called the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS. The coronavirus causing this disease was new in 2003, and there was therefore no vaccine available.

During the SARS pandemic of 2003, around 8,000 people from around the globe became infected with the type of coronavirus, and around 774 died. To find out more about the SARS virus, click here.

The new coronavirus appeared first in China, but within months spread to other countries. It affected about 26 countries in total. It appeared to have originated in animals, but it is uncertain which species.

The SARS pandemic was a large political issue as it became an issue for the Chinese government. As the disease was first observed within China, other countries argued that the Chinese government did not provide the needed level of transparency, and that the communication within the country as well as globally was sub-standard. Many investigations were done into how China originally handled the new virus, and into the health implications that were out in place.

For economies, the SARS pandemic affected nearly all of the global markets. Some researchers believe that the economic loss during the pandemic was around 80 billion US dollars.

Many health systems suffered during the SARS pandemic as it became clear that in many countries the health systems were not equipped to deal with a pandemic of this magnitude.