Welcome to the global village, just don’t forget to bring your face mask. The mysterious ailment that just a few months ago appeared to be a simple outbreak of pneumonia in a Southern province of China has since traveled to Singapore, Australia, Canada and the U.S. and has been declared a “world wide health threat.”
More than 1600 people around the world are now diagnosed with SARS, Severe acute respiratory syndrome, and about 60 have died as a result of the mysterious disease, including Dr. Carlo Urbani, the Italian physician who first identified the disease.
Today, the first cases of SARS in children were reported in Canada. In Hong Kong, sixty four new cases were found in a single apartment building and health officials warned of more cases to come. The new front in fighting infectious disease.
Guests:
Dr. Arthur Reingold, professor and head of epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health
Keith Bradsher, New York Times Bureau Chief in Hong Kong
Jan Wong, columnist and senior reporter with The Globe and Mail
David Ozonoff, is the Director of the Program in Public Health Preparedness for the School of Public Health at Boston University.