[00:01.42]He stayed at a hotel where the disease
[00:03.46]spread to four more people.
[00:05.57]When these people left the hotel
[00:07.15]and returned home,
[00:08.50]they spread the disease to Canada,
[00:10.10]Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
[00:13.46]Over nine months, the number of global cases
[00:17.05]surpassed 8,000 and 774 people died.
[00:22.03]Although these numbers are much smaller than
[00:24.29]the number for other disease such as TB or flu,
[00:28.00]which kills millions every year,
[00:30.04]the outbreak was still very alarming
[00:32.32]for a few key reasons.
[00:34.20]No one really knew much about SARS
[00:36.80]as it was completely new to physicians.
[00:39.25]Doctors weren't sure how to treat it
[00:41.11]or prevent it and since most people
[00:43.59]had no natural defences against the disease,
[00:46.41]it was also harmful to the doctors
[00:48.18]and nurses treating the SARS patients.
[00:50.80]Hospital staff, especially nurses,
[00:52.94]made up 21% of the cases.
[00:56.22]Although aspects of modern life,
[00:58.21]such as widespread air travel,
[01:00.23]allowed the SARS epidemic to quickly expand
[01:02.73]across the globe,other aspects,
[01:05.02]such as improved communication technology
[01:07.62]and improved medical research techniques,
[01:10.14]allowed health experts the world
[01:11.90]over to share knowledge and work together
[01:14.47]to stop the virus in its tracks.
[01:16.03] |