Personally i think this SARS sporadic emergence is just the start of a larger epidemic to come. And it will not only bode detriment to the health of those afflicted but it will also strike economically and socially.
A good example og what i mean by this (and one that is ignored by those who think it is a UN/WHO stratagem to preserve their relevance) can be seen by looking at Hong Kong.
People are walking with surgical masks on their faces! Televised reports show people walking like the very air around them was rife with murderous pathogens! Almost as if instead of SARS it was Ebola that was flitting around!
Furthermore there has been mass emigration out of Hong Kong, especially among the expatriate and immigrant groups (and with this emigration is also some capital flight which might lead to financial consequences down the line).
And then there is the Hang Seng index. It has taken a significant down turn due to all this SARS stuff. No economy likes unforeseen variables like disease epidemics jumping into the fray.
And now with the fact of easy global travel this ailment should spread across the globe quite fast (or, severe travel restrictions could be implemented, which would help in stopping the disease but in the process seriously affect the travel industry and airlines). Basically this SARS 'thing' is more serious than some freepers are trying to make it. And these naysayers may have to swallow their words if a SARS breakout hits a place like NEw York city or any other place in the US that has many people living in extremely compact environs.
A disease does not have to have a 100% fatality (SARS has, for now, a 3.5% fatality ratio) to be detrimentaly effective. All it has to do is make an impact, and if it were to make the same impact in the US as it has made in Hong Kong then everything from our airline industry to the stock market is going to have to swallow a lot of bile and gloom.
I think there are some who are making SARS to be more than it is ..........but they are not off by far (just look at what is happening in Hong Kong ...it is insane, literally). Then there are those who say SARS is just some sniffles blown out of proportion ......but they may be in for a surprise once the 'sniffles' hit the US.
The Corona viruses I know of are mostly GI. I wonder if chicken or turkey Chlamydia has adapted to human hosts - lots of stories of how mainland tenant farmers keep poultry in their houses.
SARS is infectious, but by close contact. Stay home and you'll be fine.