Cumulative Number of Reported Probable Cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

See Affected Areas, 26 April 2003, for a new update: http ://www.who.int/csr/sarscountry/en/

Notes: Cumulative number of cases includes number of deaths. As SARS is a diagnosis of exclusion, the status of a reported case may change over time. This means that previously reported cases may be discarded after further investigation and follow-up.

^1.The start of the period of surveillance has been changed to 1 November 2002 to capture cases of atypical pneumonia in China that are now recognized as being cases of SARS.

^2.A decrease in the number of cumulative cases and discrepancies in the difference between cumulative number of cases of the last and the current WHO update are attributed to the discarding of cases.

^3.Includes cases who are "discharged" or "recovered" as reported by the national public health authorities.

^4.National public health authorities report to WHO on the areas in which local chain (s) of transmission is/are occurring. These areas are provided on the list of Affected Areas.

^5.One death attributed to Hong Kong Special Administrat0ive Region of China occurred in a case medically transferred from Vietnam.