[John H K]

No, most plausible explanation is Mass Sociogenic Illness..which is basically the politically correct term for Mass Hysteria. Many clearly documented instances of it in medical literature; completely sane people can make themselves VIOLENTLY ill entirely through their own mind.

Key characteristics are:

1) Not all people in vicinity are affected

2) Affects women and children more than men

3) Transmitted by "line of sight"..that is, one person sees another become ill, and then becomes ill themselves.

MSI has been behind a lot of acute "sick building syndrome" cases, and also has occured a lot in schools.

Given the current climate of fear, I suspect we're going to see a LOT of MSI related to fear of bioterrorism in the next few months. The problem is, the entire medical community is aware of it but they find it awkward to discuss with the media...no one wants to be told it's all in their head. It's not a very popular explanation.

[rbmillerjr]

YEAH, either all of that or it's an agent or gas. Truth is we really dont know yet