Severe acute respiratory syndrome (or SARS) is a highly contagious respiratory illness that is characterized by a persistent fever, headache, and bodily discomfort, followed by a dry cough that may progress to great difficulty in breathing. According to one source, SARS first appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong province, China, where it was first diagnosed as an atypical pneumonia. According to Bi (2003), SARS originated in China’s Guangdong province last November, rapidly becoming widespread. By 20 May, the deadly disease had infected 6,966 people and caused 557 deaths in China (including Hong Kong but excluding Taiwan)” (p. 16). By that point in time, SARS had infected about 7,864 people around the world and 643 had died from it (Bi, 2003).”