Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

© Oxford University Press, 2013. All Rights Reserved. This chapter examines the key determinants of the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of directly infectious viruses in general, and of the SARS virus in particular, presenting analyses of the impact of different control interventions. The World Health Organization (WHO) responded quickly and effectively to the 2003 SARS crisis. However, there are certain aspects of the biology of the SARS and the politics of Asia that contributed greatly to the effectiveness of isolation, quarantine, and travel restrictions as modes of control. Specifically, the agent was poorly transmissible, especially before patients were symptomatic. Equally important, draconian public health measures were very effective in the Asian regions where the epidemic originated. If SARS had spread into more litigious populations, such measures might have been impossible to impose.

Original publication

DOI

10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198568193.003.0010

Type

Chapter

Book title

SARS: A Case Study in Emerging Infections

Publication Date

01/09/2007