Ans: In November 2002, the SARS epidemic broke out in China's Guangdong province. On November 16, 2002, the first case started to show symptoms. The index patient was a farmer from Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong, who received treatment at Foshan's First People's Hospital. The patient died shortly after, and his cause of death was never known. Despite taking some measures to contain the outbreak, Chinese authorities did not alert the World Health Organization until February 2003. Because of this lack of transparency, attempts to contain the SARS epidemic were delayed.