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2002-2003Peer-reviewed · 2 sourcesWell documented

SARS Traces a New Coronavirus Back to Wildlife Markets

A respiratory illness spreading through Guangdong's live-animal trade becomes the first new coronavirus to cause a global outbreak

On the timeline · around 2002-2003 · Emerging ThreatsEmerging ThreatsSARS Traces a New Coronavirus Back to Wildlife Markets19851990199520002005201020152020

Quick facts

Pathogen
SARS-CoV, a novel coronavirus
Origin
Foshan, Guangdong province, China, November 2002
Suspected animal source
Himalayan palm civets sold in live-animal markets
WHO notified
February 11, 2003
Global toll by July 2003
8,437 cases, 813 deaths

What happened

A novel coronavirus, later named SARS-CoV, emerged in Foshan, in China's Guangdong province, in November 2002 and spread to Guangzhou and other cities in the following weeks. Epidemiological tracing found that early patients were disproportionately food handlers and wildlife traders with direct contact with live-animal markets: 39 percent of early cases involved food handlers, none were commercial farmers, ruling out a livestock source, and one index patient in neighboring Guangxi province was identified as a wild animal trader who supplied the Guangdong markets. The virus was subsequently found in Himalayan palm civets sold in those markets, along with evidence of infection in raccoon dogs and Chinese ferret-badgers. China notified the World Health Organization of the outbreak on February 11, 2003, reporting 305 cases and five deaths at that point; WHO issued a global alert the following month, and by July 11, 2003 had recorded 8,437 cases worldwide and attributed 813 deaths to the disease.

Why it matters

SARS was the first time a coronavirus, a family previously known mainly for causing common colds, was shown capable of a lethal, internationally spreading outbreak, and the market-to-human transmission pattern established a template public health officials would look for again with later coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 seventeen years later. It also demonstrated how quickly a localized live-animal market outbreak could reach multiple countries once carried by air travel.

How we know

CDC's peer-reviewed Emerging Infectious Diseases journal documents the epidemiological tracing that identified food handlers and wildlife traders as early cases, based on case-control interviews and market-sampling studies conducted during the outbreak.

Sources

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SARS Traces a New Coronavirus Back to Wildlife Markets · Pandemics Through History · SourcedStory