摘要篇首： The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that emerged 2002-2003 and apparently again 2004 (reported by the news media on December 27, 2003) as the first confirmed case by the World Health Organization (WHO)1,2 raised awareness of emerging infectious diseases.3 Every year there are both new and old infectious diseases emerging as potential pandemic agents.4-6 However, few of these diseases receive the public attention and concern expressed as occurred during the emergence of SARS. Much of this concern was a result of the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus (CoV) to different regions of the world and its high infectivity, especially for health care workers (HCW).3 In many ways, the high percent of HCW infected is a warning of the potential hazards of old and emerging infectious diseases.6 However, SARS was not the only disease (e.g. Monkeypox) that emerged in 2003,3 rather it received the greatest attention.