Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral illness that seems to be spread when an infected person sneezes or coughs on someone else. Symptoms of SARS include high fever, headache and body ache, and eventually, pneumonia.

SARS emerged in 2003 in Asia, and within a few months, infected 18,000 people world-wide and caused more than 770 deaths. In the United States, however, only eight people who had traveled to Asia were diagnosed with SARS in 2003, and there were no SARS cases reported in the U.S. in 2004.

General Information

Advice on SARS and Potential for Food Transmission

Questions and Answers for Food Workers and Managers

FTC, FDA Crack Down on Internet Marketers of Bogus SARS Prevention Products

SARS and the Safety of Blood Transfusions

FDA and SARS - How We're Helping

• What is FDA doing to combat SARS?
• How is FDA helping to develop SARS diagnostic tools?
• How is FDA helping to develop effective treatments for SARS?
• How is FDA working to develop a vaccine for SARS?
• How is FDA helping to motivate industry to more actively participate in the process?
• What else is FDA doing to combat SARS?
• What are the symptoms, and what should people do if they exhibit those symptoms?