 carlo urbani (; castelplanio, italy october 19, 1956&nbsp;â bangkok, thailand march 29, 2003) was an italian doctor and microbiologist and the first to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) as a new and dangerously contagious disease. although he became infected and died, his early warning to the world health organization (who) touched off a massive response that helped save the lives of millions of people around the world. carlo urbani graduated in medicine in 1981 from the university of ancona and obtained a specialization in infectious and tropical diseases from the university of messina. subsequently earned a postgraduate degree in tropical parasitology. urbani started volunteering for the african endemic disease cause since young joining the italian catholic ngo mani tese. after years working in the epidemic medicine fields, in 1993 he became an external consultant of the world health organization and in 1996 joined mÃ©decins sans frontiÃ¨res which took him working in vietnam and cambodia for long term periods combatting parasitic diseases and curing endemic pathologies. soon became president of the italian chapter of mÃ©decins sans frontiÃ¨res and was one of the individuals who accepted the 1999 nobel peace prize on behalf of that organization. with the money that the organization cashed off the nobel prize, president urbani decided to create a fund to promote an international campaign for the access to essential medicines for the world's poorest populations. in late february 2003, urbani was called into the french hospital of hanoi to look at patient johnny ch
1956_births 2003_deaths People_from_the_Province_of_Ancona People_in_public_health Severe_acute_respiratory_syndrome World_Health_Organization_officials