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Severe acute respiratory syndrome

People wearing protective masks collect fishes on a beach during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Da Nang city, Vietnam, May 6, 2020.

Is Vietnam the coronavirus-fighting champ of the world?

COVID-19

Is there any other sizable country that has so thoroughly vanquished COVID-19 — and without the resources of a wealthy nation? 

Commuters wearing masks in precaution of the coronavirus outbreak are pictured in a train during their morning commute in Singapore, Feb. 18, 2020.

COVID-19: Lessons from Singapore and how it handled SARS

COVID-19
Coronavirus

Rapid genomic sequencing of coronavirus can help stop its spread

Health & Medicine
A man wears a mask as he gets checked at airport for virus

What to call this new coronavirus? Some cautionary tales.  

COVID-19
A man is shown in soft focus in the near ground wearing a reflective jacket and standing near an area with a restricted zone sign.

Virus spreads to more Chinese cities, President Xi says containment is priority

COVID-19
Susan Sorrenti, an ICU nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, nearly died from SARS back in 2003. She says she feels empathy for the nurses in Texas who contracted Ebola from treating a sick patient.

The US Ebola cases remind Toronto healthcare workers of their SARS outbreak in 2003

Health

In 2003, when SARS broke out in Toronto, many doctors and nurses got sick and died from the disease. “I think we lost control of it in Canada,” says one Canadian nurse. “We should learn from that moment and be prepared.”

China’s Bird Flu Credibility Gap

Global Politics

The Chinese government is reacting to the new outbreak of bird flu with some refreshing transparency. But The World’s Mary Kay Magistad in Beijing tells anchor Marco Werman that some Chinese who have questioned official statistics have landed in jail.

The World

Viruses At The Movies

Arts, Culture & Media

What radiation was to the 1950s – a real but poorly understood menace that served as an all-purpose plot device – viruses have become for our era.

Ecodemics

Memories of West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Disease and SARS are still fresh, even after reports of the initial outbreaks have long faded. Author Mark Jerome Walters believes we should look to our own actions for the origins of these diseases. Host Steve Curwood talks with Walters about his new book, “Six Modern Plagues and […]

SARS Update

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome has spread to more than a dozen countries throughout the world. One of the hardest hit places is Hong Kong. The World Health Organization has issued an alert for that region, advising against all but essential travel. Host Steve Curwood talks with Hong Kong based Wall Street Journal reporter Matt Pottinger, […]