I don't get it. There's nothing to worry about, but medical experts are acting as if ebola is running wild.
Today they announced that 2 people here in Charlotte, NC (Mecklenburg County) may have SARS....blood work is pending.
The two came down with a fever after just returning from a tour of SE Asia. Charlotte has about 3/4 million people here. They did not announce which Hospital ER saw the patients.
Airborne Transmission and fatal, too.
Killer Flu, in other words.
From: 1 Nov 20021 To: 31 Mar 2003, 17:00 GMT+2
Country |
Cumulative number of case(s) |
Number of deaths |
Local chain(s) of transmission2 |
Canada |
44 |
4 |
Yes |
China3 |
806 |
34 |
Yes |
China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region |
530 |
13* |
Yes |
China, Taiwan |
10 |
0 |
Yes |
France |
1 |
0 |
None |
Germany |
5 |
0 |
None |
Italy |
2 |
0 |
None |
Republic of Ireland |
2 |
0 |
None |
Romania |
3 |
0 |
None |
Singapore |
91 |
2 |
Yes |
Switzerland |
3 |
0 |
None |
Thailand |
5 |
1 |
None |
United Kingdom |
3 |
0 |
None |
United States |
59 § |
0 |
To be determined |
Viet Nam |
58 |
4 |
Yes |
Total |
1622 |
58 |
|
Notes:
Cumulative number of cases includes number of deaths.
As SARS is a diagnosis of exclusion, the status of a reported case may change over time. This means that previously reported cases may be discarded after further investigation and follow-up.
1. The start of the period of surveillance has been changed to 1 November 2002 to capture cases of atypical pneumonia in China that are now recognized as being cases of SARS.
2. National public health authorities report to WHO on the areas in which local chain(s) of transmission is/are occurring. These areas are provided on the list of Affected Areas.
3. The reporting period from Guangdong Province is from 16 November 2002 to 28 February 2003.
§ Due to differences in the case definitions being used at a national level, probable cases are reported by all countries except the United States of America, which is reporting suspect cases under investigation.
* One death attributed to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China occurred in a case medically transferred from Viet Nam.
|
Dr. Carlo Urbani of the World Health Organization dies of SARS 29 March 2002
Dr. Carlo Urbani, an expert on communicable diseases, died today of SARS. Dr. Urbani, worked in public health programs in Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam. He was based in Hanoi, Viet Nam. Dr. Urbani was 46.
Dr. Urbani was the first WHO officer to identify the outbreak of this new disease, in an American businessman who had been admitted to a hospital in Hanoi. Because of his early detection of the disease, global surveillance was heightened and many new cases have been identified and isolated before they infected hospital staff. In Hanoi, the SARS outbreak appears to be coming under control.
Carlo was a wonderful human being and we are all devastated, said Pascale Brudon, the World Health Representative in Viet Nam. He was very much a doctor, his first goal was to help people. Carlo was the one who very quickly saw that this was something very strange. When people became very concerned in the hospital, he was there everyday, collecting samples, talking to the staff and strengthening infection control procedures.
Dr. Urbani was married and the father of three children.
Dr. Urbani received his medical degree from the University of Ancona, Italy, and did post-graduate work in malaria and medical parasitology. He was an expert in the parasitic diseases of schoolchildren. He was also a president of Médecins Sans Frontières-Italy.
Carlo Urbanis death saddens us all deeply at WHO, said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHOs Director-General. His life reminds us again of our true work in public health. Today, we should all pause for a moment and remember the life of this outstanding physician.
I don't get it. There's nothing to worry about, but medical experts are acting as if ebola is running wild. A 4% fatality rate might not sound worrisome to you (and this is similar to the rate in Hong Kong), but if authorities are not able to quarantine this out of existence, and it runs rampant through society like the common cold, it would mean about... let's say... 12 million dead Americans.
I'd say it's something to worry about.