How many people in Australia contracted SARS during the 2003 outbreak?
A. In Australia, only one SARS case was confirmed – a German traveller who acquired the infection in Hong Kong in late February 2003 and then travelled to Australia where she developed an influenza-like illness. She was detected retrospectively by German health authorities conducting a look-back study of German contacts of cases in Hong Kong. There was no evidence of community transmission of SARS in Australia related to this case. An additional 5 patients, unconnected to the German traveller, were reported to WHO as probable SARS cases but none were able to be confirmed by laboratory testing.
