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Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a sometimes fatal, respiratory illness. The first identified cases occurred in China in late 2002, and the disease has now spread throughout the world. SARS is caused by a coronavirus known as SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Suspected SARS cases in the United States have involved individuals returning from travel to Asia and health-care workers and other contacts of those patients. SARS does not appear to be caused by casual contact; transmission appears to be primarily through close contact with a symptomatic patient. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has defined a suspect case of SARS as an illness of unknown cause that began in February 2003 or later and meets the following criteria: