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The infected man, a freelance journalist, became the first person outside of a laboratory to be confirmed to have the pneumonia-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) since WHO said on July 5 that it had been contained worldwide.
Two other confirmed cases since then -- in Taiwan and Singapore -- involved researchers studying the disease, which killed 774 people and infected more than 8,000 between when it first emerged in November last year and July 5.
The following are key dates in the spread of the highly contagious illness since it emerged in China's Guangdong province, where the latest case has been confirmed, and then travelled across the globe.
2003
February 11: In the first public announcement by the Chinese authorities about the outbreak of the disease later to become known as SARS, officials in southern Guangdong province say 305 people contracted atypical pneumonia in the province between November 16 and February 9 and five died.
February 22: A 64-year-old medical professor from Guangdong is admitted to hospital in Hong Kong after falling ill while staying at the Metropole Hotel, where he infected a number of other guests, including those believed to be responsible for introducing SARS to Canada, Singapore and Vietnam.
He dies in a Hong Kong hospital on March 4.
February 26: A 48-year-old Chinese-American who stayed at the Metropole Hotel is admitted to Hanoi's French Hospital after falling ill while on a business trip to Vietnam.
Dozens of French Hospital staff begin falling sick and the patient is evacuated to Hong Kong, where he dies on March 13.
March 5: A 78-year-old woman who stayed at the Metropole Hotel dies in Toronto, becoming the first SARS death in Canada. Her 43-year-old son dies on March 13 of the disease.
March 12: The WHO issues a "global alert" to health authorities worldwide about a severe form of pneumonia following the outbreaks of the disease in Hong Kong, southern China and Vietnam.
March 13: Singapore's Ministry of Health reports the first cases of atypical pneumonia in the city-state -- three people who stayed at the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong.
March 15: The WHO issues an emergency travel advisory due to the outbreak of the disease, which it calls Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) for the first time, providing guidance for travellers and airlines.
A Vietnamese nurse at Hanoi's French Hospital dies, the first SARS death in Vietnam.
March 26: Singapore reports its first death from SARS, closes schools and issues quarantine orders to 740 people.
March 27: The WHO recommends that countries most affected by SARS screen international passengers at airports, a measure later taken up by a number of governments around the world.
March 28: The WHO says what is believed to have been the first case of SARS has been traced back to November 16 in Foshan city in China's Guangdong province.
April 2: The WHO issues an advisory against non-essential travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong because of SARS.
April 5: Malaysia announces its first SARS death.
April 14: The Philippines announces its first SARS death -- that of a Filipino woman who had worked as a nursing assistant in a retirement home in Toronto and dies in Manila.
April 16: The WHO confirms that SARS is caused by the coronavirus, a family of viruses that causes the common cold.
April 20: China admits there are hundreds more cases of SARS in Beijing than previously reported and sacks health minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing mayor Meng Xuenong.
April 23: The WHO extends its warning against non-essential travel to include Toronto, Beijing and Shanxi province in northern China.
April 28: The WHO removes Vietnam from the list of SARS-affected countries, making it the first country to have successfully contained an outbreak of the disease. The disease had claimed five lives in the country.
April 29: The WHO lifts its travel advisory against Toronto saying there has been no local transmission of the disease for 20 days.
May 5: China continues to quarantine thousands of citizens in desperate efforts to contain the virus, as panic riots and buying of emergency supplies is rife in rural areas.
New medical research by the WHO suggests the coronavirus that causes SARS is more resilient than first thought and could survive for weeks outside the human body.
May 8: The WHO trebles its estimated SARS death rate to 14-15 percent from five-six percent and issues an advisory warning against all travel to China's Inner Mongolia and Tianjin provinces.
It also extends the alert to Taiwan's capital Taipei.
May 22: Further escalation of SARS is reported in Taiwan and the WHO issues an island-wide travel alert for the island.
May 23: The WHO lifts its SARS travel warning for Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Researchers say trade in and consumption of the endangered civet cat, a popular delicacy in the markets of Guangdong, could be responsible for the spread of the disease.
Four days later, Guangdong bans the consumption, trading, raising and use of wild animals like civet cats.
May 24: Hong Kong reports no new cases of SARS for the first time since figures were first regularly released in March.
May 26: Toronto is returned to the WHO's list of SARS-affected areas.
May 31: Singapore is officially removed from the list of countries with recent local transmissions after going 20 days without a new case. The disease caused 33 deaths in the city-state.
June 4: China records no new cases and no new deaths.
June 10: SARS "appears to be under control", WHO regional director Shigeru Omi tells health ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered in Cambodia to discuss the fight against the virus.
June 13: The WHO lifts SARS travel warnings imposed on four Chinese regions, but retains advisories against Beijing and Taiwan.
June 17: The WHO lifts a travel warning on Taiwan.
June 23: The WHO removes Hong Kong from its list of SARS-infected countries, after 299 deaths.
June 24: The WHO lifts is travel advisory against Beijing and removes the city from its list of SARS-infected areas. SARS had claimed 349 lives in the country, making it the worst affected nation in the world.
July 2: The WHO declares Toronto free of SARS after 44 SARS-linked deaths are reported in Canada.
July 5: The WHO declares Taiwan free of new infections of SARS, which claimed 37 lives on the island, and says the outbreak has been contained worldwide but not eradicated.
September 8: The WHO warns that SARS could return and calls for stronger surveillance to contain the threat.
September 9: Singapore confirms its first case since May involving a reasearcher who was likely infected in a laboratory. Eventually more than 50 people who came into contact with the patient are quarantined.
September 16: The Singaporean researcher is discharged from hospital after being declared recovered.
December 16: Chinese medical authorities say three kinds of SARS vaccine are ready for clinical trials.
December 17: Taiwan confirms its first SARS case since July, involving a medical researcher accidentally infected during a laboratory experiment.
Singapore places quarantine orders on more than 74 people who came into contact with the Taiwanese man.
December 27: China's Ministry of Health says a freelance journalist in the southern city of Guangzhou is being treated as a suspected case of SARS.
Hong Kong says it will step up the monitoring of travellers from the adjacent mainland.
December 29: Medical officials say 42 people who came into contact with China's first suspected SARS case are showing no signs of similar symptoms.
December 29: WHO experts set to work with local officials on a conclusive diagnosis of China's suspected SARS case.
December 30: A Guangdong provincial health official says the suspected SARS case has been confirmed, although this is not immediately corroborated by the Ministry of Health or WHO.
In Taiwan, the infected researcher is discharged from hospital after making a full recovery.
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