Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Conceptual image of the letters of SARS on a lung artwork. This represents the SARS virus infecting the lungs. SARS is a disease first recorded in China in late 2002. Its symptoms include coughing, fever and headaches. It is thought to be spread through the air and by touching surfaces contaminated by water droplets from coughing. Death is usually from respiratory failure, with a mortality rate of around 10%. It is caused by a coronavirus, other types of which cause common colds and some forms of gastroenteritis.