RE: Post #21 Good post. It appears that a there are a lot of folks who are a little teeny bit paranoid on FR!
As to the origin of infectious disease, probably most originated in Africa (where mankind evolved, so there has been a longer association between us and bacteria, parasites, and viruses there than any other locality).
But Southern China is a great place for mixing millions of people , birds, pigs, and other animals- WITH all of their various and sundry maladies- stirring for years, and seeing what comes out of the blender. Also, their medical surveillance and treatment is limited, at best.
Which is probably why annual "Flu" outbreaks (mutations) originate in this area.
I do not see SARS as bioweapon- or at least, I think the probability is very, very low.
I don't believe SARS as a weapon is really relevent to us common folk. The stats still stand as reported, though most likely they are seriously underreported.
So what happens when/if the spread of SARS holds to some of the FR posts,(10,000 by end of April)? The death rate won't have as much of an impact as the fear of the further spread of SARS. Should we make the hard decisions now to limit the spread in the U.S.A.,or wait untill we have to shut all of America down for several weeks? HK is at this moment pondering this very question, and wondering if they have already passed the point of no return.