[Judith Anne]

Interesting. imho, it's only a matter of time before we most certainly have SARS cases confirmed in the US. Truthfully, I look for the US to be fairly quiet as far as SARS goes, until the fall and winter.

I could be wrong, but that's the pattern that influenza usually shows--in the spring, it's in the far east. In the fall, it's in the US.

[dawn53]

You may be right, but after yesterday's story about how the Hong Kong apartment building outbreak was linked to sanitation, I have my doubts.

We've spent some time in China, and even in large cities like Guangzhou, the sanitation facilities are very poor.

Only toilet we ever saw was in our hotel room. Restaurants had restrooms but no toilets, parks and public areas had ceramic lined trenches. Many people seemed to be "expectorating" (to put it politely) on the sidewalk, even on restaurant floors.

Markets were crowded, we're talking a replay of the "Gideon" episode on Star Trek (if you're a trekkie.) And there was all kinds of animals being slaughtered and the waste from the slaughter was just pooled in the road, so you would have to walk through it.

On the other hand, Toronto seems to have been effected, so my theory may be full of holes.