The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.

Video, transcript, slides, and text highlights from speakers presentations and panel discussions of a conference held at the New York Academy of Sciences, May 17, 2003. Latest headlines continue to be added. This website also includes an ongoing discussion group on emerging infectious diseases.

A collection of writings by leading experts and newer researchers on the SARS outbreak and its relation to infectious disease management in progressively global and urban societies. Presents original contributions by scholars from seven countries on four continents Connects newer thinking on global cities, networks, and governance in a post-national era of public health regulations and neo-liberalization of state services Provides an important contribution to the global public debate on the challenges of emerging infectious disease in cities Examines the impact of globalization on future infectious disease threats on international and local politics and culture Focuses on the ways pathogens interact with economic, political and social factors, ultimately presenting a threat to human development and global cities Employs an interdisciplinary approach to the SARS epidemic, clearly demonstrating the value of social scientific perspectives on the study of modern disease in a globalized world

SARS, Governance and the Globalization of Disease provides a comprehensive and original analysis of the historic global SARS outbreak of 2003. David P. Fidler constructs a political pathology of the SARS outbreak, analyzes the government responses to it, places these responses in historical context and assesses the implications of the successful management of the outbreak for handling future pathogenic threats that will arise. The book includes a detailed description of the outbreak and governance responses to it, as well as a focused analysis of China's role in the outbreak.

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in late 2002 and 2003 challenged the global public health community to confront a novel epidemic that spread rapidly from its origins in southern China until it had reached more than 25 other countries within a matter of months. In addition to the number of patients infected with the SARS virus, the disease had profound economic and political repercussions in many of the affected regions. Recent reports of isolated new SARS cases and a fear that the disease could reemerge and spread have put public health officials on high alert for any indications of possible new outbreaks. This report examines the response to SARS by public health systems in individual countries, the biology of the SARS coronavirus and related coronaviruses in animals, the economic and political fallout of the SARS epidemic, quarantine law and other public health measures that apply to combating infectious diseases, and the role of international organizations and scientific cooperation in halting the spread of SARS. The report provides an illuminating survey of findings from the epidemic, along with an assessment of what might be needed in order to contain any future outbreaks of SARS or other emerging infections.

A disease that has given globalization a bad name, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), has plagued no fewer than 30 areas in recent months. In this book, for the first time, leading scientists and researchers converge to shed light on the impacts and implications of this new global threat.Collected together within the volume are more than 20 articles that discuss and examine the SARS outbreak from wide-ranging perspectives — political, social, economic and health. The reader is given insights into how the SARS outbreak has altered public and political understanding of the threat of infectious disease in general. There are lessons for global public health that have emerged from the response to SARS, especially as they pertain to preparedness for the next new disease.Informative but not heavy, insightful but not overwhelming, The New Global Threat: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Its Impacts is an indispensable source of information for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the hitherto unknown disease — students, academics and corporate leaders alike.

In the past half century, deadly disease outbreaks caused by novel viruses of animal origin - Nipah virus in Malaysia, Hendra virus in Australia, Hantavirus in the United States, Ebola virus in Africa, along with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), several influenza subtypes, and the SARS (sudden acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome) coronaviruses - have underscored the urgency of understanding factors influencing viral disease emergence and spread. Emerging Viral Diseases is the summary of a public workshop hosted in March 2014 to examine factors driving the appearance, establishment, and spread of emerging, re-emerging and novel viral diseases; the global health and economic impacts of recently emerging and novel viral diseases in humans; and the scientific and policy approaches to improving domestic and international capacity to detect and respond to global outbreaks of infectious disease. This report is a record of the presentations and discussion of the event.