a 55-year - old man traveled to mainland china from march 5 to march 15 . by march 18 the patient was given a course of antimicrobial drugs , and the fever resolved . by march 23 , at this point , sars was suspected , and the patient was moved into isolation in an intensive care unit the same day and had to be intubated for 5 days . results from the polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) test indicated the presence of the sars - associated coronavirus . the patient had no previous history of serious respiratory illness or any other serious coexisting conditions , and the source of the exposure could not be determined . the 50-year - old wife of patient 1 was exposed to sars upon her husband 's return on march 15 . on march 23 , a cough developed , and she had shortness of breath and chills . because sars was suspected , the patient was placed on antiviral treatment , and sars was confirmed by pcr testing . patient 2 was placed in isolation on a medical ward on march 25 and remained there until april 11 . the 15-year - old daughter of patients 1 and 2 also became exposed to sars when her father returned on march 15 . , she complained of stomach pain and , upon examination , had a temperature of 37.7c . the 23-year - old daughter of patients 1 and 2 , who lived away the family home , became exposed to sars through contact with both patients 1 and 2 upon a brief visit ( lasting < 1 hour ) on march 19 . by march 27 a pcr test was not completed because her fever resolved , and no other symptoms developed . a 55-year - old man traveled to mainland china from march 5 to march 15 . by march 18 the patient was given a course of antimicrobial drugs , and the fever resolved . by march 23 , at this point , sars was suspected , and the patient was moved into isolation in an intensive care unit the same day and had to be intubated for 5 days . results from the polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) test indicated the presence of the sars - associated coronavirus . the patient had no previous history of serious respiratory illness or any other serious coexisting conditions , and the source of the exposure could not be determined . the 50-year - old wife of patient 1 was exposed to sars upon her husband 's return on march 15 . on march 23 , a cough developed , and she had shortness of breath and chills . because sars was suspected , the patient was placed on antiviral treatment , and sars was confirmed by pcr testing . patient 2 was placed in isolation on a medical ward on march 25 and remained there until april 11 . the 15-year - old daughter of patients 1 and 2 also became exposed to sars when her father returned on march 15 . , she complained of stomach pain and , upon examination , had a temperature of 37.7c . the 23-year - old daughter of patients 1 and 2 , who lived away the family home , became exposed to sars through contact with both patients 1 and 2 upon a brief visit ( lasting < 1 hour ) on march 19 . by march 27 a pcr test was not completed because her fever resolved , and no other symptoms developed .