SARS control measures. Warning sign on a hospital entrance, intended to stop the spread of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus. SARS is a disease first recorded in China in late 2002. It spread to other parts of the world by air travel. Its symptoms include fever, coughing 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. Photographed at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada, in May 2003.