Over the past six weeks 21 tourists from Germany, Swizerland and the Netherlands have disappeared in Algeria. Helicopters with heat seeking capabilities are being used.

Smugglers and drug traffickers are known to haunt the area around southern Algeria, near the borders with Niger and Libya. The German Foreign Ministry warned Tuesday that criminal groups and smugglers operating in that area pose a risk and advised travelers to put off trips to the region.

Islamic extremists waging an insurgency in Algeria for more than a decade have not carried out attacks in the vast desert region. Still, there has been speculation that insurgents may be behind the disappearances.

Recovering Pharisees
IdeaJoy has posted the 12 steps for the Recovering Pharisee. #3 hit hard. Well, they all did.

Realize that we detest mercy being given to those who, unlike us, haven’t worked for it and don’t deserve it.

bloggedy blog laments the death of the first US ‘embedded’ journalist killed in Iraq. Micheal Kelly worked for the Washington Post and The Atlantic.

SARS Ground Zero
WHO medical detectives may have found patient zero in Foshan, a city in southern China’s hard-hit Guangdong province, where most medical experts believe SARS began. This is a critical piece of a complex puzzle. Finding the start of a new viral strain is helpful to epidemiologists as they begin the long and arduous task of data collection.

What is known about SARS

Timeline of indentification.

Symptoms

Treatment Remains supportive.

Diagnosis remains exclusionary, but will probably change because of a diagnositic test developed by Hong Kong scientists.

You’ll hear terms such as possible, probable, suspected and confirmed used in reports.
You’ll hear/see killer, deadly etc.
Atypical pnemonias are not uncommon. The death rate is no higher for SARS than for any other viral outbreak and remains at about 4%.
SARS is a world wide concern because the following is not known.

Transmission. Unknown.
Currently health officials are stating the following.

1….close contact with an infected person is needed for the infective agent to spread from one person to another.

2. Contact with aerosolized (exhaled) droplets and bodily secretions from an infected person appears to be important…the amount of the infective agent needed to cause an infection has not yet been determined.

3. Hong Kong medical officials are investigating whether or not the organism responsible for SARS can be transmitted by water.
This possibility came to light after a sewer pipe broke in an apartment complex in Hong Kong.

As with any possible coronavirus scientists are trying to determine if it remains active while airborne and if it is active for any length of time on surfaces.
That is not yet known.

Anecdotal infomation is not factual.
Remember that as you read, listen, and see reports.
The economic impact of SARS is being felt, and millions of dollars are at stake for medical researchers, businesses, governments and the travel industry.
You will hear a lot of blaming, criticism, over-reaction, grumbling and dismissal of key individuals, medical agencies and governments.

What you need to do
Make informed personal decisions.
Follow travel advisories.
Don’t believe everything you see/hear. Check it out.
Panic or dismissal are equally foolish.
Uncertainities about unknowns breeds fear, show consideration to others.
If you live near an area that has reported a SARS case, use common sense.
Basic hygiene rules apply as they would for a cold or flu.

WHO
19 countries have reported in. 2322 cases are reported with 81 deaths.
Quarantines remain in place in several countries showing hot zones.
Quarantines will remain in place until one or two 10 day incubation times pass from the last reported case in hot zones.