Not to pick nits, but your original statement is what caused me to respond:
"I am not all that certain that the US health care system would have handled SARS that much better. If it spreads to the USA we shall see."
Now, obviously, that statement is completely false, given the info presented here. Is there a chance of a flare-up in the US, of course. Are there sloppy doctors here, yep. But the health care system has already handled cases for over a month now, and it is doing a good job.
But the assertion that it hadn't spread to the US yet is not even remotely true.
My apologies regarding that statement. As I said in my later clarification I really was merely reffering to the natural human tendency to not go for the difficult diagnosis. I am wondering if the slight difference in timing between the Canadian problems and the US problems might be a contibutary factor to the American respomnse or was it merely that our doctors got better information and paid more attention?