SARS first erupted in China last November 2002. That’s slightly over a year after the health system here in the U.S. found itself scrambling for battle gear to fight the anthrax attacks that rattled the nation like aftershocks to the events of September 11th.
There’s been no delay in mobilizing U.S. resources in response to the threat of SARS. The CDC had taken a major hit in the 2001 anthrax crisis when precautionary treatment was provided to capitol hill staffers potentially exposed to tainted Senate mail, but the same treatment wasn’t immediately provided to D.C. postal workers, and two died. The fact that the mode of spread and the danger to postal workers may not have been predictable did little to boost public confidence in health officials following those postal employee deaths. Now in 2003, the CDC and the DHHS have acted with great determination to carry out response plans, keep the public and medical providers fully informed, and avoid any loss of public confidence regarding SARS. Judging by opinion polls, they’ve been very successful, and could count on public support for any measures that would be necessary to stop the spread of the virus here at home. One highly infectious case and Buffalo could be Toronto having to weather an outbreak.
The unprecedented international scientific cooperation surrounding the SARS outbreak stands in stark contrast to what’s happened in China. While the WHO issued a global alert, Chinese officials issued denials and undercounts. Hampered by a lack of its own “gumshoe epidemiology” capacity, China blocked efforts of WHO and CDC investigators. But whether deaths in China were reported or not, the toll continued to rise, and then reached into the high ranks of government itself where it cost both lives and careers. The suppression of information and lack of cooperation is blamed for allowing the outbreak to go unchecked as it first flew around the globe and back again. Only now is the government in China calling for a “people’s war” against the epidemic.
The take home message is that public health concerns must be put before politics and ideology or the human toll can reverberate around the world.
Ellen Blaine
Editor
