Counting the cost of Sars

Sars sparked panic at its height

Another milestone has been reached in the fight against the deadly Sars virus. BBC News Online looks at how the epidemic was handled and what lessons have been learned for the future.

The World Health Organization has lifted its last travel warning for the Sars virus.

The Chinese capital Beijing has been declared safe to visit in a move described as "a very major step forward".

WHO officials stressed the need for continued vigilance but said Sars had been contained by a traditional public health approach based on surveillance and isolation.

The quarantine procedures and travel alerts imposed at the height of the epidemic were unlike anything seen in recent times.

But according to Ron Behrens, an infectious disease expert at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, they were justified.

"Sars couldn't have been controlled without taking those measures," he said.

Global village

Some observers have said the threat of the pneumonia-like illness was nothing compared with the 1918 flu epidemic, which killed 50 million people.

But Dr Behrens doesn't agree. "This disease was probably as important and as serious as the flu was in that era," he told BBC News Online. "Although it might not have been as infectious, the illness it caused was much more debilitating and much more chronic."

So what lessons have been learned for the future? One reminder is the need for continued surveillance of infectious diseases, as more people travel long distances by air.

The disease killed at least 804 people in 32 countries and led to travel warnings in many.

Ian Jones, a virologist at the University of Reading in southern England, said it was important to drive home the message of surveillance and open-reporting.

"You can't stop people travelling across the world and crossing boundaries, legally and illegally," he said.

"The key thing is to monitor and inform as soon as anyone thinks there is an outbreak anywhere in the world."

Mass panic

The strategy of the WHO was to strike hard against Sars, issuing global health alerts for the first time in years, and unprecedented travel warnings.

Experts reckoned they had only one chance to defeat the disease before it took hold around the world and became a permanent threat.

Dr Jones believes the strategy was successful because authorities worked hard behind the scenes to bring things under control.

He concedes there may have been an "over statement of risk in the press" but said it was best that the public was informed even if there was some alarm.

Dr Behrens says the outbreak was a reminder of the importance of public health institutions and disease prevention strategies.

"This aspect of health has been weakened and eroded away because it hasn't been needed for a long while," he said.

"Sars couldn't have been tackled without these institutions and they shouldn't be tampered with."

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