Severe acute respiratory syndrome, also called SARS, is caused by a group of viruses responsible for many causes of the "cold." It is believed that civet cats, cat-like mammals, are the source of transmission of the disease. The SARS outbreak began in China's Guangdong province in November 2002. Between November 2002 and June 2003, 8,098 people contracted the virus and 774 died from this horrible disease. cases of SARS observed. These people who were recently exposed to this disease likely contracted the virus in the laboratory or through direct contact with civet cats. Fortunately, this outbreak was contained and there were no further cases of this virus. The outbreak began in Guangdong, China, because these deadly civet cats were a delicacy in that province. This SARS virus, similar to that of horseshoe bats, has been questioned as a possibility that these creatures were the ones transmitting the virus to the civet cats. Although China was aware of this outbreak, the Chinese government did not notify the World Health Organization until early 2003. As a result, the sale of these civets, during 2004, in this Chinese province has issued instructions to exterminate captive civets and ban the sale of these creatures. Although many of these cases were reported in 30 different countries, China accounted for 90% of these cases. European countries recorded less than 1% of these cases, showing how important this flu was in Southeast Asia. SARS is an animal virus originating from wild or domestic animals used for food. This virus comes from a family of coronaviruses. T...... middle of paper ......patients.Not only does this disease cause minor complications, but many of these small problems mostly lead to more serious problems. Because these patients have difficulty breathing, these SARS patients develop pneumonia. The most common deaths among people with SARS are due to respiratory failure, which can also lead to liver and heart failure. Many of these patients require mechanical ventilators to breathe and live. These viruses damage host cells by breaking inside the patient's body, causing pressure that puts the patient in danger. This infection results in host susceptibility. They produce too much mucus, which can lead to insufficient oxygen in the host's blood. From there, the inability to produce oxygen in the blood puts too much strain on the lungs and the host suffers greatly from respiratory failure...