Im thinking sort of just the opposite. Theres a bug going around that most, for one reason or another are just shrugging off and dont head in to the doctor and its only the more extreme cases being reported. There have been a number of cases of SARS reported here according to the local news channel. Supposedly there are just a few isolated cases...mulefritters.
Think about how a "normal flu" sweeps through your family and friends once someone gets it. In a couple of weeks, everyone in town has had it and its gone but for some reason SARS isnt apparently quite so contagious...not buying it.
Something has swept through here in the last week or so that doesnt sound like a "regular flu" to me but local swamped doctors are just shrugging it off as "some kinda virus". Temps up around 105, not a normal flu. Extreme near suffocation type phlegm, not a normal flu. Exhaustion of one or more body parts to the point of paralysis even in the young and otherwise healthy, not a normal flu. It arrived about the same time as the SARS reports and seems now to be working its way through.
Like you, Im guessing that it and the media coverage of it will be gone soon. Im just not buying the official version of the story.
What part of the country are you in?