Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Carlo Urbani

Carlo Urbani (19 October 1956 – 29 March 2003) was an Italian physician and microbiologist who specialized in infectious and tropical diseases, serving as a World Health Organization (WHO) expert in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he pioneered efforts against parasitic infections before becoming the first to recognize and alert the world to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as a novel contagious threat in early 2003, ultimately dying from the virus he helped identify. Born in Castelplanio near , Urbani earned his medical degree from the University of in 1981 and pursued specialization in infectious diseases, focusing on pathogens prevalent in tropical regions. His career emphasized fieldwork in communicable diseases, including and helminthic infections, leading him to join WHO efforts in by 2000. In Vietnam, Urbani contributed to mapping and controlling schistosomiasis mekongi, a neglected tropical disease endemic to the Mekong River basin, through targeted interventions that reduced transmission in affected communities. When atypical pneumonia cases emerged at Hanoi's French Hospital in February 2003, he rapidly assessed the cluster, confirmed its atypical nature via clinical and epidemiological analysis, and notified WHO, prompting global travel advisories and isolation protocols that contained the initial outbreak. Exposed during his response, Urbani contracted SARS and was evacuated to Bangkok, where he succumbed to multi-organ failure despite intensive care, marking the first recorded death of a WHO staffer from the epidemic. His prompt actions are credited with averting a potentially wider catastrophe by enabling coordinated international surveillance and research that isolated the SARS coronavirus.

Early Life and Education

Childhood and Family Origins

Carlo Urbani was born on October 19, 1956, in Castelplanio, a small rural town in the , region, . Urbani grew up in a middle-class family with a strong Catholic background that emphasized community and moral duty. His mother served as headmistress of the local primary school, while his father was a teacher at the Nautical Institute in . This parental focus on education occurred amid Italy's post-World War II reconstruction, where rural areas like Castelplanio faced limited access to advanced healthcare and , shaping early awareness of needs.

Medical Training and Specializations

Urbani earned his medical degree from the Università Politecnica delle Marche (then known as the University of Ancona) in 1981. Following graduation, he pursued specialization in infectious and tropical diseases at the . He later obtained a postgraduate degree in tropical parasitology, focusing on the empirical study of parasitic infections prevalent in endemic regions, including helminths and transmitted via vectors or contaminated water. This training underscored causal mechanisms of diseases such as and , emphasizing transmission cycles, host-parasite interactions, and environmental factors over symptomatic treatments alone. Urbani's academic work laid groundwork for rigorous, data-driven approaches to vector-borne pathogens, prioritizing verifiable incidence patterns and preventive interventions in resource-limited settings.

Professional Career

Initial Positions in Italy

After earning his medical degree from the University of in 1981, Urbani pursued specialization in infectious diseases, completing training that equipped him for clinical roles in diagnosis and management.13107-8/fulltext) By 1989, he joined the infectious diseases department at Macerata Hospital in Italy's region as a primary aide, advancing to deputy chief of the department in —a position he held amid routine duties in treating local infectious cases. This role involved hands-on experience with endemic s, including bacterial and parasitic infections common to the area, where he developed expertise in laboratory diagnostics and patient isolation protocols. At Hospital, Urbani contributed to departmental efforts in infectious and , addressing outbreaks of conditions like and gastrointestinal infections through targeted interventions and epidemiological tracking. His work emphasized practical application of principles to domestic contexts, revealing the constraints of Italy's healthcare system in encountering rare imported or vector-borne diseases, which built his proficiency in resource-limited settings despite the relative scarcity of severe tropical cases locally. This foundational period, spanning the late and early , solidified his clinical acumen in handling contagious illnesses, laying groundwork for broader engagement without venturing abroad.

Field Work with Médecins Sans Frontières

Urbani joined Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 1995, initially with the Swiss branch, and was deployed to Cambodia to address parasitic diseases among vulnerable populations. His work focused on schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma mekongi, endemic in the Mekong River basin, where transmission occurs through contact with infested water via intermediate snail hosts. Targeting disadvantaged communities in provinces like Kratie and Stung Treng, Urbani emphasized cost-effective strategies including mass drug administration of praziquantel, a parasiticide that targets adult worms to reduce infection intensity and egg output. These interventions formed part of an integrated control program that combined annual treatment rounds with snail habitat management using molluscicides and to promote water hygiene practices, thereby disrupting transmission cycles empirically observed in field monitoring. campaigns prioritized high-risk groups, such as fishermen and farmers exposed to contaminated systems, achieving measurable reductions in through repeated parasitological surveys of and samples. In collaboration with local health authorities, MSF efforts contributed to lowering S. mekongi from baseline levels exceeding 20% in focal areas to under 1% by the early , demonstrating the efficacy of targeted in breaking human-snail-human reservoirs without relying on broad environmental overhauls. Urbani's approach prioritized empirical validation, with pre- and post-intervention data guiding adjustments to coverage and timing, such as synchronizing doses with seasonal peaks. By 1999, he had risen to president of MSF , overseeing expanded field operations while maintaining hands-on involvement in Asia's neglected hotspots. These missions underscored causal links between worm burden reduction and decreased morbidity, including and organ damage, validated through longitudinal cohort studies in treated versus untreated villages.

Transition to World Health Organization

In the early 1990s, Urbani began consulting for the (WHO) on the control of parasitic diseases, drawing on his prior field experience with (MSF) in and to address communicable disease challenges in resource-limited settings. This initial consultancy role, starting around 1993, involved multiple missions focused on empirical mapping and intervention protocols for helminth infections, emphasizing data collection from endemic areas to inform targeted eradication efforts. By 1998, Urbani transitioned to a more permanent WHO position as an infectious disease specialist, concentrating on efforts to eliminate childhood parasites such as and soil-transmitted helminths in . His responsibilities included outbreak surveillance, advising on evidence-based policies for , and developing protocols grounded in field rather than theoretical models alone. This work highlighted his ability to integrate individual fieldwork initiative with multilateral coordination, prioritizing verifiable incidence data to guide and containment strategies in the . In April 2001, Urbani relocated with his family to , , where he served as WHO coordinator for communicable disease programs, overseeing surveillance and response mechanisms in a region prone to emerging pathogens. This posting leveraged his expertise in vector-borne and parasitic threats, positioning him within WHO's Western Pacific Regional Office to monitor cross-border health risks through systematic reporting and laboratory collaboration.

Identification of SARS

Observations in Vietnam

In late February 2003, Carlo Urbani, serving as a (WHO) infectious disease specialist in , was consulted regarding a Chinese-American businessman, Johnny Chen, admitted to Hanoi's French Hospital on February 26 with severe respiratory illness following recent travel to and . Urbani examined Chen on February 28, observing symptoms including high fever exceeding 38°C, dry cough, malaise, and bilateral on chest that failed to respond to standard antibiotic and antiviral treatments for bacterial or infections. These findings deviated from typical community-acquired pneumonias, prompting Urbani to document the case's atypical progression and rapid deterioration, with Chen dying on March 5 despite intensive care. By early March, Urbani identified clusters of similar cases among hospital staff exposed to , with over 20 healthcare workers developing identical symptoms of acute respiratory distress and fever, indicating efficient nosocomial person-to-person uncommon for known s. Laboratory tests on respiratory samples from affected patients ruled out influenza A and B viruses, as well as common bacterial pathogens, through negative and culture results conducted at local and international labs. patterns—clustered in healthcare settings without evident airborne spread but via close contact—combined with findings from Chen revealing extensive lung consolidation without typical viral inclusions, led Urbani to hypothesize an emergent viral pathogen, distinct from seasonal respiratory agents, requiring urgent isolation protocols. Urbani's on-site assessments emphasized empirical verification, including serial monitoring of , radiographic progression, and among 40 exposed individuals in the hospital, confirming secondary cases without assuming causation prematurely. He reported these observations to Vietnamese Ministry of Health officials and WHO headquarters starting March 1, advocating for enhanced and sample shipment to reference labs for genomic analysis rather than speculative interventions. This approach prioritized from clinical-epidemiologic data, highlighting the pathogen's novelty through its deviation from endemic disease baselines in .

Alert to International Authorities

On February 28, 2003, Carlo Urbani, while consulting at the French Hospital in , notified the (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office of an unusual respiratory illness in a patient who had arrived from , initially suspecting but noting its rapid spread to healthcare workers. As cases escalated among hospital staff, demonstrating high transmissibility within healthcare settings, Urbani communicated further details to WHO headquarters, emphasizing the syndrome's atypical features and potential as a novel pathogen distinct from known respiratory diseases. These alerts, culminating in WHO's issuance of a global health advisory on March 12, 2003, classified the outbreak as a severe, readily transmissible illness of undetermined spreading internationally via . Urbani advocated urgently for evidence-based interventions, including rigorous , patient isolation, and protocols for exposed individuals, drawing on observations of secondary transmissions that infected over 20 healthcare workers from the alone. He pressed Vietnamese authorities to the affected hospital entirely—a measure implemented after intensive discussions—while recommending airport screenings for febrile travelers to curb exportation, justified by early case patterns suggesting a fatality rate approaching 10% among hospitalized patients, primarily healthcare personnel. These recommendations, grounded in epidemiological data from , countered initial tendencies toward underestimation and facilitated Vietnam's swift containment, limiting the outbreak to 63 cases nationwide. In parallel, Urbani collaborated closely with Vietnamese Ministry of Health teams and international experts dispatched by WHO to enforce isolation wards and protocols, directly preventing nosocomial amplification and broader community dissemination in . His insistence on transparency and precautionary action, despite diagnostic uncertainties, underscored the risks of delay, enabling to halt local transmission by April 2003 and become the first nation removed from WHO's outbreak list.

Response to the SARS Outbreak

Coordination of Containment Measures

Following Urbani's alert, the issued a global emergency travel advisory on March 15, 2003, recognizing as a worldwide threat based on epidemiological data from , which prompted intensified efforts across affected countries including , , and . This alert facilitated the identification and monitoring of over 1,000 contacts in alone by late March, limiting secondary transmissions through systematic protocols enforced by local health authorities under WHO guidance. In Vietnamese hospitals, Urbani oversaw the rapid enforcement of infection control measures, including mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 respirators, gowns, and gloves for healthcare workers, alongside the of suspected cases in dedicated wards to curb nosocomial spread. These protocols demonstrably reduced hospital-acquired s; prior to full implementation, nosocomial transmission accounted for approximately 60% of Vietnam's 63 confirmed cases, but post- enforcement, transmission chains were severed, with no new hospital clusters reported after mid-March. Empirical tracking showed that strict ward segregation and PPE compliance prevented aerosol-generating procedures from amplifying spread, aligning with causal evidence from outbreak investigations that airborne precautions directly mitigated respiratory pathogen dissemination. Vietnam achieved containment success by April 28, 2003, when the WHO removed it from the list of areas with recent local transmission—the first country to do so—attributable to swift lockdowns of affected facilities and enhanced surveillance that yielded zero documented community transmissions beyond initial healthcare-linked clusters. This outcome stemmed from verifiable protocols like 14-day quarantines for contacts and daily fever screening, which empirically halted ; case data indicated only two mild community-linked infections among 65 monitored contacts, representing less than 3% secondary spread outside hospitals. Such measures underscored the efficacy of targeted, resource-intensive interventions over predictive modeling, as real-time data collection and enforcement proved decisive in breaking transmission dynamics without reliance on unverified assumptions.

Personal Involvement and Risks

Urbani responded to initial concerns at Hanoi's French Hospital on February 28, 2003, conducting on-site assessments of patients exhibiting symptoms of an unusual , which he quickly recognized as a novel contagious . As cases escalated among hospital staff and patients, he persisted in frontline consultations, spending several days at the facility to evaluate the outbreak's progression and support overwhelmed medical personnel. His direct involvement included collecting biological samples from infected individuals for laboratory analysis, necessitating close proximity to high-viral-load sources in a setting where early control measures were rudimentary. This hands-on approach exposed him to empirical risks amplified by the resource-limited environment, including insufficient (PPE) and the absence of established protocols for airborne pathogens, which facilitated rapid transmission among healthcare workers—over half of the initial 60 cases in were among them. Urbani's observations highlighted causal dynamics in the outbreak, such as superspreader events driven by the index patient's interactions in the hospital, which infected approximately 80 individuals, predominantly through nosocomial spread in close-contact scenarios. Despite these hazards, he continued coordinating on-ground containment efforts, including urging isolation and enhanced screening, prioritizing empirical assessment over remote oversight to grasp the disease's hospital-centric amplification.

Death and Its Circumstances

Contraction of SARS

Urbani contracted through occupational exposure while investigating and managing the emerging outbreak at the French Hospital in , , where he directly assessed patients with and coordinated response efforts amid infections among healthcare workers. On March 3, 2003, he visited the hospital to evaluate an linked to international travel, initiating a chain of exposures that included dozens of staff infections, including his own. The first symptoms manifested on March 11, 2003, during his flight from to , , presenting as fever and malaise consistent with based on his prior observations of the disease. Urbani, aware of the risks from his frontline involvement, immediately notified contacts en route and arranged for strict isolation upon landing at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Hospital, prioritizing containment and access to specialized facilities over return to . His illness rapidly progressed to severe respiratory distress, with the SARS diagnosis affirmed through clinical evaluation, epidemiological linkage to known cases, and laboratory confirmation aligning with established diagnostic criteria for the . This sequence underscored the occupational hazards of outbreak response without fully in place at the time.

Final Days and Medical Care

Urbani developed symptoms of on March 11, 2003, while en route from to , and was immediately admitted to the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute for isolation and intensive care. There, he received to support respiratory function amid progressive lung damage, alongside antiviral agents such as , which were experimentally deployed against the emerging SARS-CoV in the absence of established therapies. Over the ensuing 18 days, Urbani's condition worsened despite interventions, culminating in (ARDS) characterized by severe and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates, followed by multi-organ failure involving hepatic and renal systems secondary to and . He died on March 29, 2003, at age 46, from respiratory failure induced by SARS-CoV. In his final moments, Urbani consented to the procurement of lung tissue samples during care, enabling post-mortem virological and histopathological analysis that revealed and patterns, insights which informed subsequent understandings of and strategies.

Personal Life and Values

Family and Relationships

Urbani married Giuliana Chiorrini in 1983, and the couple had three children: Tommaso, born in 1987; ; and Maddalena. The family maintained their primary residence in Castelplanio, near , , where Urbani's wife and children lived during his final years. To support Urbani's international assignments, the family relocated with him on several occasions, including a one-year posting to , , in 1996 while he worked with , and to , , in May 2000, where he served as a World Health Organization representative for parasitic diseases. His youngest child, Maddalena, received early education in and became fluent in during this period. Urbani's career entailed prolonged absences due to fieldwork in and , yet his wife offered consistent backing for these missions, enabling him to balance domestic responsibilities with professional commitments abroad. Colleagues and family accounts portray him as a devoted husband and engaged father who prioritized family time when possible, even amid relocations and travel demands. Just before contracting in March 2003, Giuliana voiced concerns about his direct exposure to infected patients, though he continued his duties.

Ethical and Professional Principles

Urbani's professional principles centered on evidence-based, hands-on interventions targeting poverty-driven infectious diseases, such as helminthiases and , which disproportionately affect disadvantaged populations in developing regions. He advocated for cost-effective, sustainable strategies that prioritized direct field action over administrative inertia, exemplified by his dismissal of bureaucratic routines as insufficient for addressing acute threats in vulnerable communities. This approach critiqued systemic inefficiencies in global aid, favoring pragmatic outcomes that directly mitigated disease burdens linked to socioeconomic deprivation rather than perpetuating dependency through top-down distributions. His ethical emphasized in service to the afflicted, grounded in a influenced by Catholic social teachings yet oriented toward measurable results. Urbani viewed personal risk as inherent to medical duty in crisis zones, articulating that abstaining from frontline involvement undermined one's purpose in roles. This commitment reflected a causal on empowering practitioners to confront diseases at their source, integrating moral imperatives with empirical protocols for containment and prevention. Regarding disparities, Urbani promoted local capacity-building to foster , training indigenous health workers and establishing protocols for ongoing and control in resource-limited settings. He prioritized initiatives that enhanced endogenous expertise, such as community-level parasite management programs, over short-term external aid that risked undermining local systems. This philosophy underscored a realist of disparities as rooted in structural vulnerabilities, advocating interventions that built enduring infrastructure for without fostering reliance on foreign dependency.

Legacy and Impact

Contributions to Infectious Disease Control

Urbani's pre-SARS efforts as a (WHO) specialist focused on parasitic diseases in , particularly the control of Schistosoma mekongi, a neglected endemic to the River basin in and . He led mapping initiatives and advocated for mass drug administration using at 40 mg/kg alongside sanitation improvements, which contributed to substantial reductions in prevalence and morbidity in targeted communities. In , where control programs initiated in 1994 incorporated these strategies under WHO guidance involving Urbani's epidemiological reviews, hepato-splenic prevalence declined significantly through repeated treatments, averting severe cases and deaths associated with chronic infection. During the 2003 SARS outbreak, Urbani's identification of the novel pathogen in on February 28 and subsequent alerts to WHO established foundational protocols for responses, emphasizing rapid , , and . These early warning mechanisms, triggered by his reports, prompted WHO's global alert on March 12, enabling coordinated international containment that restricted to 8,098 confirmed cases and 774 deaths worldwide by July 2003, preventing uncontrolled exponential spread projected in unchecked models to potentially affect millions. His insistence on empirical metrics, such as hospital infection rates exceeding 20% in initial Hanoi clusters, informed standardized WHO guidelines for outbreak verification and response that remain core to . Urbani's on-the-ground coordination in during strengthened local health infrastructure by enforcing and protocols, resulting in no secondary transmission waves post-containment by April 2003. This built capacity for sustained , evidenced by Vietnam's low incidence of major respiratory outbreaks in the decade following, with annual severe acute respiratory infection rates remaining below global averages through enhanced early detection systems derived from his interventions.

Long-Term Influence on Global Health Protocols

Urbani's rapid identification of SARS as a novel pathogen on February 28, 2003, and his immediate alert to WHO headquarters exemplified an effective early-warning model that underscored the necessity for formalized global surveillance protocols. This on-the-ground detection in Hanoi, coupled with his advocacy for stringent isolation and contact tracing, directly informed the accelerated revision of the International Health Regulations (IHR), culminating in their adoption by 194 WHO member states in May 2005 and entry into force in June 2007. The IHR (2005) institutionalized Urbani's approach by mandating national capacities for real-time surveillance, laboratory confirmation of threats, and obligatory notification of potential public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs) to WHO within 24 hours, shifting from prior reactive frameworks to proactive, evidence-based alerting. The SARS containment, limited to 8,096 confirmed cases and 774 deaths worldwide by July 2003, demonstrated the efficacy of field-driven interventions in averting escalation, with —the outbreak's epicenter under Urbani's coordination—achieving zero new transmissions by April 25, 2003, as the first nation to do so. Urbani's emphasis on decentralized, hands-on —prioritizing direct hospital assessments and local over remote directives—countered bureaucratic inertia, influencing IHR provisions for WHO to deploy expert teams for verification and support, thereby embedding data-driven fieldwork as a core response element. These protocols proved enduring in subsequent crises, as IHR (2005) mechanisms facilitated WHO's PHEIC declarations for events like the 2009 H1N1 influenza and the 2020 , where rapid alerts enabled targeted travel screenings and resource mobilization, though variances in national adherence highlighted ongoing challenges in uniform implementation. By formalizing alert thresholds based on transmissibility and severity—criteria Urbani's experience helped calibrate—the revisions promoted causal realism in outbreak management, favoring empirical over delayed consensus, and reduced potential for exponential spread as modeled in uncontrolled scenarios exceeding millions of cases.

Posthumous Honors and Commemorations

Following his death, Carlo Urbani was awarded the Medaglia d'oro ai Benemeriti della Sanità Pubblica by the Italian Republic on April 2, 2003, in acknowledgment of his decisive actions in alerting authorities to the outbreak and implementing containment measures that prevented wider spread. On May 28, 2020, President conferred upon him posthumously the title of Cavaliere di Gran Croce d'Onore dell'Ordine della , recognizing his exemplary service to international health security through early detection in . The Government of Vietnam posthumously bestowed the Friendship Order and Medal for People's Health on Urbani for his identification of SARS in Hanoi and the protocols he developed, which enabled rapid isolation and limited the epidemic's domestic impact. In commemoration, Vietnam established the Carlo Urbani Museum in Hanoi, opened on April 2, 2023, to honor his contributions during the SARS crisis and coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Vietnam-Italy diplomatic relations. Additionally, an epidemiology center in Vietnam bears his name, serving as a facility for infectious disease surveillance modeled on his fieldwork. The marked the 20th anniversary of Urbani's death on March 29, 2023, with a global commemoration emphasizing his pivotal warnings that mobilized international response and averted greater loss of life from .

References

  1. [1]
    WHO Doctor and Hero of SARS in 2003 - CDC
    Jul 31, 2023 · Dr. Urbani was born in Castelplanio, Ancona, Italy, on October 19, 1956. In 1981, he graduated from the University of Ancona with a degree in ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  2. [2]
    Carlo Urbani - PMC - NIH
    Carlo Urbani, public health specialist World Health Organization (b near Ancona, Italy, 1956; q Ancona 1981), died from sudden acute respiratory syndrome on 29 ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  3. [3]
    WHO remembers Dr Carlo Urbani as a hero who fought SARS
    Mar 28, 2018 · Dr Urbani's family, colleagues and friends remembered him as a dedicated professional who was the first WHO officer to identify SARS as a new and lethal ...Missing: discovery | Show results with:discovery
  4. [4]
    WHO commemorates the 20th anniversary of the death of Dr Carlo ...
    Mar 29, 2023 · While there, he conducted pioneering work on mapping and control of schistosomiasis mekongi, a neglected tropical disease, then highly endemic ...
  5. [5]
    SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and the teaching of Carlo Urbani in Vietnam
    Background. Carlo Urbani (1956-2003) was an Italian microbiologist and infectious disease expert for World Health Organization (WHO) in Hanoi (Vietnam) who ...Missing: biography | Show results with:biography
  6. [6]
    Carlo Urbani | Higher education | The Guardian
    Apr 21, 2003 · Dr Carlo Urbani, the Italian epidemiologist, did work of enduring value combating infectious illness around the world. He has died at the age of 46 in Bangkok ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  7. [7]
    REMEMBERING Dr. CARLO URBANI Revisiting a Great Italian Hero ...
    Dec 24, 2020 · Doctor Carlo Urbani was born on day October 19, 1956, in the beautiful small town of Castelplanio, province of Ancona, Italy, in a family with ...
  8. [8]
    Carlo Urbani Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline
    Nov 10, 2017 · He then specialized in infectious and tropical diseases from the University of Messina and earned a postgraduate degree in tropical parasitology ...
  9. [9]
    Obituary: Carlo Urbani | MSF
    In 1990, he became deputy chief of the department of infectious diseases at Macerata, Italy's general hospital in Ancona, a position he held off and on while ...Missing: 1980s | Show results with:1980s
  10. [10]
    SARS Pioneer Gave Life Pursuing Virus
    Apr 16, 2003 · Urbani was born in Castelplanio, Italy, in 1956 and spent his early career as an infectious diseases specialist at the General Hospital in ...<|control11|><|separator|>
  11. [11]
    Carlo Urbani - PMC - PubMed Central
    He moved on to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 1995, working in Cambodia to effectively control Schistosoma mekongi. “Targets of this control were usually ...Missing: details | Show results with:details
  12. [12]
    Control of Schistosoma mekongi in Cambodia. Results of eight ... - NIH
    Oct 3, 2017 · This article is dedicated to Dr. Carlo Urbani. An indispensable contribution was made by MSF. We would like to appreciate all the staff from the ...
  13. [13]
    Control of Schistosoma mekongi in Cambodia: results of eight years ...
    Aug 30, 2025 · ... Details on the mass drug administration campaigns for the control of schistosomiasis in Cambodia ... Carlo Urbani · M Sinoun · Duong Socheat · C ...
  14. [14]
    Control of Schistosoma mekongi in Cambodia: results of eight years ...
    This article is dedicated to Dr Carlo Urbani. An indispensable contribution was made by MSF. We would like to thank all the staff from the National Center ...
  15. [15]
    Carlo Urbani - he was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the ... - Gariwo
    Italian doctor, he was the first to identify and classify SARS. Graduated in medicine at the University of Ancona, he specialized in infectious and tropical ...
  16. [16]
    Dr Carlo Urbani who first identified SARS commemorated on his ...
    Mar 29, 2023 · In WHO, he was responsible for the control of tropical and parasitic diseases in the greater Mekong region in Vietnam. In February 2003, Carlo's ...
  17. [17]
    Carlo Urbani, il nuovo eroe dei due mondi - Associazione Italia Asean
    Apr 17, 2021 · Despite the organizational responsibilities, fighting forgotten diseases and saving human lives always remains Urbani's main mission. On ...Missing: details | Show results with:details
  18. [18]
    Update 95 - SARS: Chronology of a serial killer
    Jul 4, 2003 · 4 March – The Guangdong doctor dies of atypical pneumonia at Kwong Wah Hospital. 5 March – In Hanoi, the Chinese-American businessman, in a ...
  19. [19]
    SARS and Carlo Urbani - The New England Journal of Medicine
    Urbani worked directly with the medical staff of the hospital to strengthen morale and to keep fear in check as SARS revealed itself to be highly contagious and ...
  20. [20]
    Anatomy of an Epidemic | Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine
    Nov 20, 2003 · After examining Chen and learning how he'd infected at least 22 hospital workers, Urbani had his doubts about the flu theory and shared them ...Missing: index | Show results with:index
  21. [21]
    Clinical Description of a Completed Outbreak of SARS in Vietnam ...
    Dr Carlo Urbani (deceased), a public health physician with WHO in Vietnam, first described the outbreak in reports to WHO at the beginning of March 2003. He ...
  22. [22]
    Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) - multi-country outbreak
    Apr 11, 2003 · Severe Acute Pulmonary Syndrome (SARS) was first identified in Viet Nam on 28 February, 2003, when Dr Carlo Urbani, an epidemiologist from the ...
  23. [23]
    Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
    SARS was first identified by Dr Carlo Urbani, a WHO infectious disease specialist. Dr Urbani alerted the world to SARS when cases of an unusual ...Missing: observations | Show results with:observations
  24. [24]
    World Health Organization issues emergency travel advisory
    World Health Organization issues emergency travel advisory. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Spreads Worldwide. 15 March 2003.
  25. [25]
    THE WHO RESPONSE TO SARS AND PREPARATIONS ... - NCBI
    He was attended by a WHO official, Dr. Carlo Urbani, following concerns raised by hospital staff. Alarmed at the unusual disease and concerned that it could be ...
  26. [26]
    Inside the WHO as It Mobilized To Fight Battle to Control SARS
    May 3, 2003 · Urbani and his boss in Hanoi, 57-year-old Pascale Brudon, decided they needed to enlist the government's help to contain the bug. By Friday, ...
  27. [27]
    SARS: hospital infection control and admission strategies - PMC
    There is no doubt that early isolation of patients with probable or suspected SARS is important to prevent nosocomial spread of the disease.
  28. [28]
    Outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ---Worldwide, 2003
    Mar 21, 2003 · The initial cases reported in Singapore, Taiwan, and Toronto were among persons who all had traveled to China. On March 15, after issuing a ...
  29. [29]
    WHO: Viet Nam could become first country to contain SARS | UN News
    Apr 25, 2003 · But the ailment was first identified by Carlo Urbani, a WHO infectious disease specialist, who alerted the world when cases of an unusual ...Missing: process | Show results with:process
  30. [30]
    SARS transmission in Vietnam outside of the health-care setting - NIH
    Two community contacts with laboratory evidence of SARS coronavirus infection had mild or sub-clinical infection, representing 3% (2/65) of Vietnamese SARS ...Missing: containment zero
  31. [31]
    Sars: The people who risked their lives to stop the virus - BBC News
    Aug 16, 2013 · They knew they were facing something very serious and highly unusual. "All the chest X-rays were abnormal and... were similar to Johnny Chen.Missing: index symptoms
  32. [32]
    World Health Organization and the Italian Embassy in Viet Nam ...
    Apr 8, 2013 · Dr Carlo Urbani was an Italian citizen and a public health specialist working at the WHO office in Viet Nam. In February 2003, Dr Urbani ...
  33. [33]
    Thailand and U.S. strengthen public health collaboration - Pattaya Mail
    Mar 20, 2023 · ... Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute. Dr Rochelle Walensky ... Carlo Urbani. This facility was developed after Dr Urbani, a WHO ...
  34. [34]
    SARS coronavirus: a new challenge for prevention and therapy
    In some cases, the infection leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is triggered by a cytokine storm and multiple organ failure.<|control11|><|separator|>
  35. [35]
    Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) - PMC - PubMed Central
    WHO designated the new disease “SARS” on March 15, 2003. Dr Urbani died of SARS on March 29 that same year.1, 4 Most of the cases were reported from China ...
  36. [36]
    How a WHO epidemiologist gave his life to stem the spread of SARS
    May 11, 2023 · Dr. Urbani notified the WHO of his findings and maintained constant correspondence. Intense quarantine measures were enacted and regional ...Missing: roles | Show results with:roles
  37. [37]
    Lung pathogen of fatal severe acute respiratory syndrom
    Post-mortem tissue samples from six patients who died from SARS in February and March, 2003, and an open lung biopsy from one of these patients were studied by ...
  38. [38]
    A Modern-Day Hero - Misyon Online
    Urbani's wife, Giulliana, lives with their three children, Tammaso (17), Luca (9), and Maddalena (4) in Castelplanio, not far from Ancona, in the Italian Marche ...Missing: origins | Show results with:origins
  39. [39]
    Carlo Urbani's family house - Himetop - Wikidot
    After marriage, Carlo Urbani moved with his wife in this house of Castelplanio (via Giuncare), near his birthplace. His wife, Giuliana Chiorrini, and their ...Missing: origins | Show results with:origins
  40. [40]
    SARS heroes who sacrificed lives not forgotten - Vietnam News
    Apr 7, 2023 · Thanks to Urbani, Việt Nam became the first country to announce it had stopped the SARS outbreak and in May 2003, Việt Nam's Ministry of Health ...Missing: involvement risks
  41. [41]
    If Dr Carlo Urbani were alive today… ​
    Mar 12, 2019 · He would have seen how his three children had grown up to become beautiful human beings like him. He was an affectionate husband and a hands-on ...
  42. [42]
    [PDF] Dr JW Lee Director-General Elect The World Health Organization
    May 21, 2003 · Carlo Urbani has given us WHO at its best – not pushing paper, but pushing back the assault of poverty and disease. Today we are honoured to ...<|separator|>
  43. [43]
    First Report of Schistosoma mekongi Infection with Brain Involvement
    The epidemiology and control of this disease were recently reviewed by a team led by Carlo Urbani [5], the physician who died from severe acute respiratory ...Missing: work incidence
  44. [44]
    SARS — Looking Back over the First 100 Days
    Last winter, although there had been some minor activity, nothing serious came up until late February 2003, when Dr. Carlo Urbani alerted the World Health ...
  45. [45]
    Vietnam Took Lead In Containing SARS - The Washington Post
    May 4, 2003 · Chen checked into Hanoi French Hospital, the city's only private hospital, in late February with a 104-degree fever, a sandpaper cough and ...Missing: index symptoms
  46. [46]
    Progress in Global Surveillance and Response Capacity 10 Years ...
    Called to the investigation of the subsequent illnesses of health care workers at the hospital was Dr Carlo Urbani, a WHO physician specializing in parasitology ...Missing: building disparities
  47. [47]
    [PDF] GAO-04-564 Emerging Infectious Diseases: Asian SARS Outbreak ...
    Apr 28, 2004 · SARS cases, rapid isolation and contact tracing, enhanced hospital ... Carlo Urbani notifies WHO office in Manila of an unusual disease.<|control11|><|separator|>
  48. [48]
    WHO: Vietnam may defeat SARS, and world has chance to follow suit
    Apr 25, 2003 · WHO officials today said Vietnam has not had a new SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) case in 17 days and could soon become the first country to contain ...
  49. [49]
    Summary and Assessment | Learning from SARS: Preparing for the ...
    Vietnam. Dr. Carlo Urbani, a WHO infectious disease specialist based in ... contributions of zoonotic infectious disease research with biomedical research efforts ...
  50. [50]
    Urbani Dott. Carlo - Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana
    Urbani Dott. Carlo. Medaglia d'oro al merito della sanità pubblica. Cenni storici e normativa dell'onorificenza. Data del conferimento: 02/04/2003.Missing: benemeriti salute
  51. [51]
    Urbani Dott. Carlo - Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana
    Cenni storici e normativa dell'onorificenza. Esperto di malattie infettive presso l'Ufficio OMS a Hanoi. Data del conferimento: 28/05/2020. Alla memoria ...
  52. [52]
    Museum honours Italian doctor who identified SARS in Việt Nam
    The Carlo Urbani Museum, named after an Italian doctor who identified severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Việt Nam in 2003 ...Missing: honors facilities
  53. [53]
    Vietnam: l'esempio di Carlo Urbani è sempre vivo
    Mar 16, 2022 · The ceremony was held in the epidemiology center named after Carlo Urbani, with the emotional participation of Italian and Vietnamese ...Missing: honors facilities