Although the deadly outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome appears to have been contained worldwide since early July, some in the Inland Valley are concerned it may return again.

No new cases have been reported in nearly two months, but the World Health Organization has suggested SARS could be a seasonal disease that will resurface later in the year.

Starting this month, all returning students, faculty and staff of the Claremont Colleges will be asked to undergo a SARS exposure assessment.

‘‘Since SARS has been a problem in the world, we certainly want to take precautions for the sake of our students,’’ said Marilyn Thomson, spokeswoman for Claremont Graduate University. ‘‘We just thought it would be prudent.’’

The colleges assembled a SARS Task Force in June to establish a protocol for guarding against the virus that has infected more than 8,000 and killed more than 800 people worldwide.

All students will be given a questionnaire when they arrive, asking if they’ve been to a SARS-affected area within 10 days. For those that have, the colleges will provide a checklist of symptoms and instructions for what to do and who to call.

Local governments are also keeping an eye out for the illness, and officials say they will continue to follow guidelines issued by state and federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

‘‘All of us in local health departments rely on the expertise of the CDC and WHO for guidance on things like this,’’ said Dr. David Dassey, deputy chief of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Acute Communicable Disease Control Unit.

Scientific experts remain perplexed as to the origin and nature of the disease, but they say it remains a threat even though it appears to have disappeared. The WHO has urged the world to remain on high alert as it continues to research the illness.

In order for SARS to be a seasonal disease, it has to exist some place in the off-season, said San Bernardino County Health Officer Dr. Tom Perndergast.

‘‘We don’t know enough about the virus to know where it might ‘summer’ over,’’ Perndergast said.

But county health officials said that if SARS returns, it will most likely hit Asia first and spread from there, because the United States had limited cases. That makes safeguarding against its spread easier, they said, because counties can limit suspicions of SARS cases to those who have traveled to affected countries.

‘‘We can’t possibly test every person that has a fever and cough,’’ Dassey said.

From February, when the respiratory illness was first reported in Asia, Los Angeles County identified 22 potential cases of SARS, none of which actually turned out to be the disease. San Bernardino County didn’t have any potential cases.

Ontario International Airport never considered SARS a risk because it doesn’t have flights to or from countries affected by the illness, said airport spokeswoman Maria Fermin. Still, ONT would be ready if it needed to be, she said.

‘‘We always have our guard up,’’ she said. ‘‘We always take precautions. We’re always prepared for anything.’’