Web Video: From the Vault: The SARS Epidemic

GWEN IFILL, host: Well, as if the nuclear threat weren't enough for one continent to deal with, this week saw the galloping rise of SARS, severe acute respiratory syndrome; and as new cases emerge, quarantines expand and the disease spreads to North America. The consequences are multiplying.

So, Ceci, give us the latest tally.

Ms. CECI CONNOLLY (The Washington Post): Well, as of this afternoon, Gwen, we had reported about 4,600 cases worldwide, 275 deaths. About 26 different countries now have cases of this new pneumonialike illness. In the United States, we're reporting about 41 probable cases, that's been creeping up each day. Two hundred and thirteen others, though, that are being closely monitored here in the United States. Thankfully, no deaths here at home. But aside from sort of the health impact, the economic impacts of this are really becoming quite large and quite serious. You're seeing, especially in Asia, the impact where you once had growth forecasts of 2, 3, 4 percent. Now they're down around 1 or possibly even no growth.

There was a Chamber of Commerce official from Toronto speaking today about--now all of the cancelations. Springtime is a popular time to go up there, tourism, baseball games. He said one convention that just canceled would be a loss of $20 million to that city's economy. A number of airlines already suffering are now calling for bailouts. They've been canceling flights. So it's a very broad impact.

Mr. RICHARD BERKE (The New York Times): What about other--how we're handling this--this epidemic? I don't know if it's an epidemic yet or what we call it, but how is the US--how is the CDC equipped in handling it compared to China which was accused of being sort of mis--mishandling it at the beginning and the--and the Canadians? What--and--and also when I think about it, the Third World countries, are they in--in real trouble and...

Ms. CONNOLLY: Potentially, yes. Absolutely. If you see cases get into some of those Third World countries, it could be very difficult to contain spread. With respect to, say, the differences between China and the US, frankly, the health officials here say probably a little bit of it is luck with the United States. They really scratched their heads and can't quite figure out why we haven't seen more cases, why we haven't seen death, and they don't necessarily think that we're out of the woods by any means.

China, of course--this first started in southern China in Guangdong province in November, and the first that anyone from China even mentioned this was not until late February. And even then, all throughout Beijing, it was an enormous cover-up. They were literally taking SARS patients, loading them in buses and driving them to hotels immediately before the investigators from the World Health Organization would show up so that they would walk into a hospital and not see these cases. And that's why every day right now, you're seeing the numbers in China going up by hundreds.

Ms. MARTHA RADDATZ (ABC News): Ceci, even though people in the United States seem quite calm about this, if it comes to the United States in a bigger way, are we prepared for any kind of epidemic? Do those masks really work? I mean, what--what happens?

Ms. CONNOLLY: Sure. Masks do work because what we know--what little we know about this coronavirus so far is that it appears to be spread most often from droplets, say sneezing and coughing. Possibly also it survives on surfaces, and that's why it can be so contagious. There are simple things like hand washing. Believe it or not, there was a reason why our mothers told us to wash our hands. It's one of the best and simplest things you can do to protect. But the great fear here, Martha, is that if we get large numbers of cases, our--our hospitals are not ready to handle those. You need to isolate those patients, put them in special rooms with separate airflow. And also, frankly, the state of our quarantine laws in this country is a patchwork of 50 different laws, and there's a lot of anxiety about whether or not public health officials could really step in swiftly and--and isolate and quarantine large c--numbers.

Mr. DOYLE McMANUS (Los Angeles Times): Well, in that sense, Ceci, I've been wondering if this, in a--in a strange way, is almost a--the kind of dress rehearsal for what might happen if smallpox or some other bioterror weapon were used against the United States.

Ms. CONNOLLY: Oh, sure, absolutely; and maybe that's a little bit of a silver lining to all of this right now. And certainly what you're hearing from the medical community is that because of all the anxiety over bioterrorism, they certainly were more sensitized to watching for mysterious illnesses coming in. They're better. It's called surveillance in the medical world and--and--and have their emergency command centers and that sort of thing. So it's a drill, but they're also spotting the weaknesses.