Carlo Urbani

Italian physician who identified SARS

Carlo Urbani (Italian: ['karlo ur'ba?ni]; 19 October 1956 – 29 March 2003) was an Italian physician and microbiologist and the first to identify severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as probably a new and dangerously contagious viral disease, and his early warning to the World Health Organization (WHO) triggered a swift and global response credited with saving numerous lives.

Shortly afterwards, he himself became infected and died.