RESEARCH PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE Body Temperature Monitoring and SARS Fever Hotline, Taiwan S. Cornelia Kaydos-Daniels,*† Babatunde Olowokure,‡§ Hong-Jen Chang,¶ Rachel S. Barwick,† Jou-Fang Deng,# Ming-Liang Lee,** Steve Hsu-Sung Kuo,†† Ih-Jen Su,‡‡ Kow-Tong Chen,†† Susan A. Maloney,† and the SARS International Field Team1 In Taiwan, a temperature-monitoring campaign and hotline for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) fever were implemented in June 2003. Among 1,966 calls, fever was recorded in 19% (n = 378); 18 persons at high risk for SARS were identified. In a cross-sectional telephone sur- vey, 95% (n = 1,060) of households knew about the cam- paign and 7 households reported fever. Fsyndrome (SARS) (1–3). Persons with fevers initially ever is one of the first signs of severe acute respiratory attributed to other illnesses have caused outbreaks of SARS in hospitals and the community (1–7). This finding highlights the need for early recognition of cases. On June 1, 2003, in Taiwan, a National Temperature Monitoring Campaign and SARS fever hotline were launched. These were intended to raise public awareness about SARS (and fever as an early sign of SARS), improve early detection of possible SARS cases, and prevent SARS transmission. In the campaign, fever was defined as fore- head or axillary temperature >37°C, oral temperature >37.5°C, or tympanic or rectal temperature >38°C (8).2 In conjunction with this campaign, persons with fevers were encouraged to call a toll-free SARS fever hotline. The hotline objectives were to appropriately triage persons with fever, reduce clinic visits by the “worried well,” identify persons at high risk for SARS, reduce opportunities for SARS exposure, and increase the public’s sense of security. Both the body-temperature monitoring campaign and the hotline were publicized through television, posters, fliers, radio, the Internet, magazines, and newspapers. We *West Virginia Bureau for Public Health, Charleston, West Virginia, USA; †Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ‡World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland; §Health Protection Agency, Regional Surveillance Unit West Midlands, Birmingham, United Kingdom; ¶Bureau of National Health Insurance, Taiwan; #Taipei Medical Association, Taipei, Taiwan; **Tzu-Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan; ††Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, Washington, DC, USA; and ‡‡Center for Disease Control, Taiwan describe and evaluate the body-temperature monitoring campaign and the SARS fever hotline. Methods Our investigation evaluated the community-wide body- temperature monitoring campaign and SARS fever hotline in the city of Taipei, which makes up 11.8% of the popula- tion of Taiwan (population of Taiwan, 22.51 million [9]). We analyzed data from three sources: hotline call data reported to the Bureau of National Health Insurance for all of Taiwan; hotline call data for Taipei; and data from a telephone survey of Taipei residents. Data were evaluated for the period June 1–10, 2003, corresponding to the dura- tion of the body-temperature monitoring campaign as well as the first 10 days of the hotline.2 SARS Fever Hotline Data Throughout Taiwan, each local medical association responsible for operating the fever hotline in its city or county provided daily reports to the Bureau of National Health Insurance. The total number of calls and the advice given to the caller were reported. Because operation of the hotline varied by locality, further analysis was limited to Taipei city, where the Taipei Medical Association staffed the hotline and 52 physicians worked 6-hour shifts between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. daily. Physicians were provided with an algorithm (Figure 1) for triaging callers and evaluating SARS risk level. Persons at high risk for 1SARS International Field Team: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA: Peter B. Bloland; Stephanie H. Factor; Alexandre Macedo de Oliveira, assigned to Nebraska Department of Health; Melissa A Marx, assigned to New York City Department of Health; Sarah Y. Park; John T. Watson, assigned to Chicago Department of Public Health; Susan Wang; David Wong; William Wong, assigned to San Francisco Department of Public Health; Global Alert and Response, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland: Kande-Bure O’Bai Kamara and Howard Sobel. 2See also additional text and visuals in online version. Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 10, No. 2, February 2004 373