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THE ICONOCLAST WEEKLY RANT SHOOTING SARS by Lin Anderson It's just the way the world works -- no sooner do we get a War of Liberation out of the way when -- bam! -- we get broadsided by a new and mysterious disease. This life is just one big ol' cliffhanger. The disease in question is of course SARS -- an acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome -- and it's apparently nothing to be trifled with, or -- to be more specific -- sneezed at. Health professionals tell us it's a sort of super-pneumonia which originated in China --...

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - People around the world are overreacting to SARS, creating a sense of panic that could overwhelm common-sense measures for containing the virus, top AIDS experts said on Monday. Sensational media coverage of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which has killed 326 people worldwide, has fanned the flames, said David Baltimore, who won the 1975 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on how viruses cause disease. "I think there has been overreaction," Baltimore, a leading AIDS researcher who is now president of the California Institute of Technology, said in a telephone interview. "I have to agree...

The worldwide SARS death toll continued to climb on Saturday as a leading British expert warned the mortality rate from the mysterious disease could be double that suggested by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Canada recorded its 20th death, a 77-year-old man from Ontario province, casting doubt on official comments that the outbreak is under control. Six deaths in Hong Kong and Singapore's 19th fatality were among 15 fatalities in Asia, bringing the global toll to 292. As US President George W Bush offered to help beat the epidemic in China, where drastic measures are being taken to halt the...

April 27 2003: A SARS Story Last Tuesday, the day before we flew to Taipei, we heard on the news that SARS had broken out at the city's Hoping Hospital. This is where my sister-in-law, Shiang-Yi, works as a nurse. We called her to see if she was alright. Sure, she said. I'm not even in that part of the hospital. Don't worry. So, the next day we flew from Pingtung to Taipei and had a terrific day. We visited with Taipei's Deputy Fire Chief and his wife and Eva Mei got to see a lot of neat fire stuff....

Super-spreaders fan SARS fears By M.A.J. McKENNA The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Health authorities are watching uneasily for an event that could reverse their apparent success in containing the U.S. outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome: the arrival of a so-called super-spreader. There are 41 probable cases of SARS in the country, and only two sufferers were infected by other Americans. In Asia and Canada, by contrast, clusters of 20, 50 and more than 100 cases have been caused by single highly infectious individuals. A 26-year-old Singaporean infected more than 100 people -- including her parents, grandmother, uncle, brother and pastor. A...

The death rate for Sars could be significantly higher than previously thought, according to an British expert's study into the pneumonia-like virus. The research by Professor Roy Anderson, due to be published in a medical journal next week, is expected to say the virus could kill between 8% and 15% - or one in seven - of those infected. The World Health Organization (WHO) had predicted a death rate of 5% to 6% and said the virus could be beaten if countries worked together to stop it spreading. A WHO spokesman said Professor Anderson was a top class professional and...

The Threat Posed by SARS is Unprecedented By:JASBANT SINGH, Associated Press Writer April 26, 2003 Asian health ministers agree measures to stop 'unprecedented threat' of SARS KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Asian health ministers agreed Saturday on measures to slow the spread of SARS, including more screening at international departure points, a bar on travelers showing symptoms of the virus and a requirement for health declaration forms for visitors from affected countries. "The threat posed by SARS is unprecedented," said the regional director of the World Health Organization, Shigeru Omi. "The virus has already demonstrated its explosive power to cause sudden...

SARS Scare Reaches South Texas LAST UPDATE: 4/25/2003 5:22:41 PM Posted By: Julie Fike The SARS border scare reached all the way to Laredo. Border agents in South Texas near Freer Friday arrested 17 illegal immigrants. Six of them were Chinese. Agents took the six to a doctor’s hospital in Laredo. They were tested for SARS. Three of the six were given a clean bill of health. The results are still pending on the other three. Laredo Immigration Assistant Chief George Gunnoe says he believes the final test results later Friday night. Gunnoe says the chances of them having SARS...

I think some people are missing the message here. If you take the data from the WHO sars page, you can easily find out that: 1) The death rate worldwide is 11% if calculated by the deaths over deaths plus recoveries method, or "only" 5.9% if you calculate it by dividing deaths by total cases. 2) The rate at which cases are growing is currently about 3.5% PER DAY (divide today's reports by yesterday's). That means the number of cases doubles every 20 days or so. Usually, a scary rate like that doesn't persist for very long with a fatal...

Billion SARS cases feared By Mary Papadakis 27Apr03 MORE than one billion people worldwide could be infected by the deadly SARS virus within a year, a leading UK scientist has warned. Dr Patrick Dixon, a specialist in predicting global trends based at London's Development Management School, said SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had the potential to turn into a pandemic and infect more people than AIDS. The grim prediction comes as a Melbourne infection control specialist warned the virus could destroy Third World countries. Glenys Harrington, who flew to Manila yesterday to join the World Health Organisation's assault on SARS,...

HUNDE, China — An hour south of Guangzhou, the Dongyuan animal market presents endless opportunities for an emerging germ. In hundreds of cramped stalls that stink of blood and guts, wholesale food vendors tend to veritable zoos that will grace Guangdong Province's tables: snakes, chickens, cats, turtles, badgers, frogs. And, in summer, sometimes rats, too.They are all stacked in cages one on top of another — which in turn serve as seats, card tables and dining quarters for the poor migrants who work there. On a recent morning, near stall 17, there were beheaded snakes, disemboweled frogs and feathers...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A Brown University faculty member and a 2-year-old Minnesota boy are being monitored as possible SARS cases - both recent visitors to Toronto. Toronto is the epicenter of the biggest outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome outside of Asia, where the disease originated. More than 250 probable or suspected cases have been reported in the Toronto area, with 19 deaths so far. The unnamed Brown faculty member in the division of biology and medicine has been asked to stay away from campus. Students who have been in contact with the professor have been informed, according to...

4,000 Quarantined in Beijing as Suspected SARS Cases Climb EIJING, April 25 — At least 4,000 Beijing residents with exposure to a contagious respiratory disease are being kept in isolation, often in their own homes, health authorities said today, and a second major hospital was put under total quarantine, with virtually no one allowed to enter or leave. City education officials also revealed that 300 college students who had contact with infected people suffering the dangerous new disease, known as SARS, have been sequestered in a military training camp for two weeks' observation. As Beijing began a stringent new quarantine...

The odds against SARS Mathmatically speaking, the odds are against infection Michael Friscolanti National Post Various signs. ADVERTISEMENT The World Health Organization may be advising travellers to avoid Toronto in the wake of the SARS outbreak, but the odds seem to suggest that visitors have a lot more to worry about than just the mysterious disease. As of yesterday, 16 people in the greater Toronto area -- one for every 292,681 residents -- had died from the virus. Mathematically speaking, a person is much more likely to die in a flood (one in 237,132), be murdered (one in 50,353), or...

Does anyone know where to find a specific map for locating the US SARS cases? Why is this information not being made public? I am angry that the disease is not being tracked in real-time with specific maps. Here is the most specific breakdown I could find at the CDC. State Total Cases Suspect Cases Probable Cases Alabama 1 1 0 Arizona 1 1 0 Arkansas 1 1 0 California 46 34 12 Colorado 8 6 2 Connecticut 5 4 1 Florida 15 14 1 Georgia 3 3 0 Hawaii 5 3 2 Illinois 13 12 1 Indiana 1 1...

SARS Death Rate Increases to 16% - 25% and the Mutating Virus Attacks Many Vital Organs There is more evidence that SARS may be much worse than World Health Officials are admitting. In fact, my research convinces me that health officials are very worried about this deadly new virus. I am deeply concerned about the correct computation of the death rate percentage. Thus far, authorities are simply dividing the number of deaths by the total number of SARS cases. That causes the death rate to be understated in my view. Some medical experts in public health agree with my position....

Toronto is put into 'quarantine' over Sars outbreak By David Usborne in New York 24 April 2003 Toronto, the largest city in Canada, was placed under an unexpected quasi-quarantine yesterday after the World Health Organisation put it on a list of three destinations people should avoid because of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The advice, issued as the global death toll reached 251, said Toronto, Beijing and the Chinese province of Shanxi were places to avoid because of the risk of catching the virus. The organisation had previously warned against travel to Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong. The...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. motorists and gasoline retailers were keeping a level head on Thursday as war began in the oil-rich Gulf, with no reports of panic fuel-buying or price gouging, the American Automobile Association said. "So far, so good," said Mantill Williams, a spokesman for the automobile and travel group. "We've gotten no reports of any price gouging and no reports of abnormal buying patterns that could lead to regional shortages." Fears had been widespread that pump prices would shoot higher in some parts of the country because of expectations from drivers and fuel suppliers that the U.S.-led...

Your Home Is Your Fortress? Maryland Firm Bets a 'Safe Room' Boom Is at Hand By Ellen McCarthy Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, March 3, 2003; Page E01 You can keep your duct tape and your flimsy gas masks. Jeff Quante prefers steel. Several thousand pounds of it, actually, with reinforced screws and bullet-resistant glass. It should be big enough for at least two people, protected with high-security locks and attached to an air purification system. And if that steel is painted silver with black accents like a Cadillac -- well, all the better. The safe-room business is not big;...

Can somebody help me out? I'm working on a piece about the nightclub fire, and I'm trying to find a story that ran awhile back, saying that people often do NOT panic in such situations, but instead try to help each other. Some scientist did a study on the subject and I want to pass his name on to my colleagues. Anybody remember this story? Thanks.