China declared the SARS emergency over in the capital Beijing, saying the latest outbreak, in which one person died, had been brought under control.
The Health Minstry stopped daily surveillance reports on the SARS epidemic on Tuesday and Beijing issued a notice the same day closing down the SARS prevention headquarters, Xinhua news agency said.
The headquarters, responsible for epidemic control and prevention, was set up on April 22 when Beijing reported its first SARS case this year.
SARS first emerged in southern China in late 2002 and spread around the world by travellers to infect 8,000 people in nearly 30 countries, jolting the airline and tourism sectors. Nearly 800 people died.
Xinhua said the decision to call the emergency off was made after the release of seven recovered SARS patients in the city and the removal from isolation of those in close contact.
China reported nine SARS cases this year, seven in Beijing and two in eastern Anhui province, one of whom died.
The cases have been linked to the National Institute of Virology
in Beijing, which had carried out experiments using the SARS
coronavirus
