Posted on 04/24/2003 9:51:52 AM PDT by Orbiting_Rosie's_Head
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 | 0 |
| Kansas | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Maine | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 12 | 11 | 1 |
| Michigan | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Missouri | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Nevada | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| New York | 27 | 22 | 5 |
| North Carolina | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Ohio | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| Oregon | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Texas | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Utah | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Vermont | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Virginia | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Washington | 23 | 22 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 239 | 202 | 37 |
They'd rather cover their a$$e$ than get it wrong. But then again, that doesn't make much sense either. You'd think they would want to err on the side of caution (treat all suspect cases as cases)
Those are just items I thought up off the top of my head, so I don't know how accurate they would be. I think it's more likely people will be streaming through Canada since it's less well guarded than our southern border. That's just my opinion at the moment.
Unfortunately, the economy is put ahead of security and health. I have some very real concerns now:
(1)Are there going to be people who mask their symptoms and don't go for medical help because they don't want to be quarantined?
(2)What is going to happen if SARS starts spreading among our overseas troops, within the populations that have been impacted by war, or on something like a cruise ship?
(3)The borders weren't closed for awhile after 911, which was insanity. Is corporate America's lust for cheap labor from overseas going to trump what might need to be done to stop the spread of the disease?
I'm not really in panic. Here, in the wetlands of SE Mass, we've been living with Lyme Disease, Cat Virus, Rabies, West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine, all potentially deadly. About the best things to do are to keep up the immune system (exercise, nutrition, rest) and avoid potential hotbeads of these diseases.
I do wish I could trust the government to put health ahead of corporate profit, though.
I've read recently, and I don't remember where, but bodies were dug up and DNA was tested for the virus. I'm putting my tinfoil hat on for this one.
Why is that a surprise?
It has the greaest number of...
Never mind.
Mystery illness extends its reach
Clifton Park-- Easter visitor becomes county's first suspected SARS case
By CLAIRE HUGHES, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, April 24, 2003
A woman visiting family in Clifton Park has Saratoga County's first suspected case of severe acute respiratory syndrome, bringing the total number of Capital Region cases of the flu-like illness to four.
County health officials won't disclose the woman's residence, due to confidentiality rules, but said she had traveled through Toronto to arrive here Friday to visit with family for Easter. She has agreed to remain in her relatives' home -- under voluntary quarantine -- until more is known about her condition.
Health officials became aware of the case Tuesday after the woman went to a medical clinic seeking treatment, said Terry Stortz, Saratoga County Public Health prevention team supervisor. She had started to feel ill Sunday, Stortz said. On Wednesday, the state listed the patient as one of 17 suspected SARS cases being monitored throughout New York.
Because the laboratory test to confirm SARS is new and time-consuming, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta tracks cases of the disease that are suspected. Symptoms of SARS include a fever over 100.4, headache, muscle stiffness and loss of appetite. To be classified as a suspected case of SARS, a person also must have traveled to a region where SARS has spread throughout the community. Toronto is one of those locations.
None of the woman's four Clifton Park relatives in the house with her have symptoms of the disease, Stortz said. They have been given tips for staying well, including monitoring their symptoms and washing their hands frequently. Unless they develop symptoms of the illness, however, they will not be asked to stay home, Stortz said.
Health workers who treated the patient should remain well if they used common precautions for not spreading the disease, such as washing their hands well. The disease is believed to be spread only through close contact with a SARS patient, including exposure to body fluids like phlegm.
The illness, whose cause was recently determined to be a coronavirus, has spread through 27 countries since November. More than 4,000 people have developed the infection, which has killed 251 people, according to the World Health Organization. There are 39 suspected cases in the United States.
State and federal health officials have listed three other area patients -- two in Rensselaer County and one in Schenectady County -- as having suspected cases of SARS. All had traveled to China, where SARS originated and thousands of people have been infected. All have recovered, health officials said. No one they were in contact with has shown symptoms of the disease.
The Schenectady County case involved a businessman who never developed the most-severe pneumonia-like symptoms of the disease, said Lisa Ayers, a communicable disease nurse for the county Health Department. It will probably never be known whether he really had it.
"We wanted to err on the side of caution and keep the individual home because there was travel history," Ayers said.
I wonder what the mortality rate will be, since of so many possible cases, a 2% or 3% mortality rate will be a substantial number.
Unless, of course, those "possible" cases are not related to SARS.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.