title: Public health lessons from severe acute respiratory syndrome a decade later.
abstract: The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002-2003 exacted considerable human and economic costs from countries involved. It also exposed major weaknesses in several of these countries in coping with an outbreak of a newly emerged infectious disease. In the 10 years since the outbreak, in addition to the increase in knowledge of the biology and epidemiology of this disease, a major lesson learned is the value of having a national public health institute that is prepared to control disease outbreaks and designed to coordinate a national response and assist localities in their responses.
authors.affiliation: Emory Global Health Institute, Emory University, 1440 Clifton Rd NE, Suite 6.101, Atlanta GA 30322, USA. jkoplan@emory.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Koplan
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Butler-Jones
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health; D011635:Public Health Administration; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission
keywords: SARS; coronavirus; disease threats; national public health institutes; public health; severe acute respiratory syndrome; viruses