[aristeides]

The Chinese government has fudged the numbers, and as a result there is panic there now. If the U.S. government fudges the numbers, there'll be panic here too.

[TBall]

There will be panic either way. The only way to stop the panic is to stop SARS and in my opinion drastic measures might be the only way to save a whole lot of people.

[gridlock]

I would disagree with you that the US will fudge the numbers. It seems that the CDC plays these things pretty straight. It is too difficult to control information in the US, because there is not a central point for information distribution. The Chinese have a great "advantage" over us in this regard.

The downside for them is that when they tell people that there is nothing to fear, nobody believes them.