I’m taking a blogging and life break from from war and pestilence today as The Gospel According to Mark says.

Since so many people are looking for information on SARS, here is a major update. Further information is in the SARS category on the side bar.

Todays information on SARS.
Canada is struggling with tired health care workers, inadequate supplies, and the usual bureaucratic slowness.
Thousands are quarantined without being told the hows and whats. It is up to us to educate ourselves and make personal decisions.
Volunteers in Toronto are afraid to deliver groceries, so the Salvation Army has stepped in.
The mortality rate the past two weeks has been consistant with any viral outbreak in industralized ‘first world’ countries.
With WHO investigating now in China, the incubation time has been upgraded to 14 days. Another Canadian has died, and possible cases are being reported in the Martimes and on the West Coast.
Outbreak areas are called Hot Zones.

International SARS information

There are now 1,622 cases of this new disease, worldwide; and at least 58 deaths.

Doctors in Hong Kong say they have had success treating severe SARS sufferers with a serum of antibodies from recovered SARS patients.

New data out of China, where SARS first appeared earlier this winter, suggests the incubation period for the disease is longer than first believed. The WHO and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control had estimated the average incubation period at two to seven days, with some patients taking as long as 10 to fall sick following exposure. New data from China suggests some cases develop as long as 14 days later.

Hong Kong health officials reported Monday that 92 more people had fallen ill with a deadly flu-like disease at one apartment complex, bringing the toll at that location to 213. Hong Kong has now reported more than 620 cases of suspected SARS.

WHO SARS co-ordinator says it is “the most significant outbreak that has been spread through air travel in history.”

Hong Kong health authorities say they’ve seen cases that indicate airplane passengers could infect people two rows ahead and two rows behind them. The spread of SARS at an apartment complex there has also increased speculation the illness could be airborne.

The ‘illness could be airborne’ is so disingenous. Stay safe.