HANOI, Vietnam —  The World Health Organization has declared that Vietnam is the world's first country to contain its SARS (search) outbreak.

At a news conference in Hanoi, the organization said it is lifting its advisories against travel to the communist country. There have been no new cases of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, in Vietnam (search) since April 8.

The Vietnamese government "showed strong commitment at the highest level from the beginning of the outbreak," the WHO (search) said in a statement during the weekend.

It is a "very good day," said a WHO representative in Hanoi.

Vietnam had five deaths from SARS after the virus spread through Hanoi's only international hospital in February. Sixty-three people contracted the virus.

But the Hanoi French Hospital closed on March 11, a move credited with slowing the rate of infection and keeping SARS from spreading beyond its doors.