The World Health Organization (WHO) says the worst is over in the battle against SARS and lifted its warning against travel to Taiwan to leave Beijing as the only place with an advisory in force.
But the United Nations agency said health workers and emergency response centres must stay alert for new outbreaks of the illness.
The advice against unnecessary trips to Taiwan, issued a month ago as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) cases surged there, was dropped because the situation on the island "has now improved significantly," the WHO said.
"We must continue to fight against this disease nationally, regionally and globally, until the end," Mr Shigeru Omi, director for the WHO in the Western Pacific Region, said.
"The SARS epidemic is now coming under control but the fight is by no means over. SARS is not defeated, other new diseases will threaten us in the future. We must be better prepared next time," he said.
The flu-like virus, traced to the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, has killed almost 800 people worldwide and infected about 8,500 since it emerged late last year.
Aside from China and Taiwan deaths have also been reported in Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Experts disagree over whether a renewed outbreak is likely during the Northern Hemisphere winter.
Speaking to a news conference later, Mr Omi said Taiwan had convinced WHO officials to lift a recommendation against unnecessary travel there after falls in both its new and active SARS cases.
Taiwan, with the world's third-highest number of SARS infections, reported no new cases today for the second day in a row. The Department of Health said Taiwan's total probable SARS cases stood at 697 with a death toll of 83.