Severe acute respiratory syndrome--retrospect and lessons of 2004 outbreak in China.

Objective: To summarize lessons learned from an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China during the spring of 2004.

Methods: Data of SARS cases were officially reported by Beijing Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention (BCDC) and Anhui Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (APCDC) and results of epidemiological investigations were collected and analyzed.

Results: Three generations of 11 cases of SARS were identified during the outbreak.