Saturday, October 25, 2003
THE NEW YORK TIMES GETS YET ANOTHER
EPIDEMIC WRONG
The New York Times, which to this day still has not reported the true story about AIDS, CFIDS and HHV-6, now has shifted its monumental journalistic incompetence to the subject of SARS. An editorial in the Sunday paper gets it exactly wrong: "Health authorities are preparing for the possible return of the SARS virus this fall, but with any luck they should be able to prevent a global epidemic. The virus is a nasty germ that can inflict terrible harm on anyone who contracts SARS. But the virus is relatively hard to spread and the conditions that allowed the disease to race from nation to nation last season seem unlikely to repeat themselves."
Hard to spread? They should pay an intern to just Google the story. If they did they would know that many more people are positive for exposure to the the virus than got sick from it. Many people who handled wild animals in Guangdong Province in China have evidence of exposure to the virus--as many as 40% in one market.
The Times should consider sending a reporter to interview Henry Niman, the Harvard professor who has watched the Sars epidemic like a hawk for much of the last year. Niman has predicted for months that when the weather turns colder in China and elsewhere, a SARS apocalypse could occur. Since many animals are capable of contracting the virus, there could be many new reservoirs when the next SARS season begins.
The Times editorial comes close to chiding the CDC for panic-mongering. The Times should really try to get to the bottom of the SARS story before they make a judgment like that. They may have to eat their words. They should try and ascertain whether the CDC knows more than it is telling the public about the likelihood of an explosive new SARS epidemic. If Henry Niman's vision of the future is correct, we could have a major catastrophe in the United States and elsewhere this winter. SARS could end up being the number one issue in the next election.
One more suggestion for the Times. Investigate the role of pigs in the SARS epidemic. We predict they'll find a big story there.
EPIDEMIC WRONG
The New York Times, which to this day still has not reported the true story about AIDS, CFIDS and HHV-6, now has shifted its monumental journalistic incompetence to the subject of SARS. An editorial in the Sunday paper gets it exactly wrong: "Health authorities are preparing for the possible return of the SARS virus this fall, but with any luck they should be able to prevent a global epidemic. The virus is a nasty germ that can inflict terrible harm on anyone who contracts SARS. But the virus is relatively hard to spread and the conditions that allowed the disease to race from nation to nation last season seem unlikely to repeat themselves."
Hard to spread? They should pay an intern to just Google the story. If they did they would know that many more people are positive for exposure to the the virus than got sick from it. Many people who handled wild animals in Guangdong Province in China have evidence of exposure to the virus--as many as 40% in one market.
The Times should consider sending a reporter to interview Henry Niman, the Harvard professor who has watched the Sars epidemic like a hawk for much of the last year. Niman has predicted for months that when the weather turns colder in China and elsewhere, a SARS apocalypse could occur. Since many animals are capable of contracting the virus, there could be many new reservoirs when the next SARS season begins.
The Times editorial comes close to chiding the CDC for panic-mongering. The Times should really try to get to the bottom of the SARS story before they make a judgment like that. They may have to eat their words. They should try and ascertain whether the CDC knows more than it is telling the public about the likelihood of an explosive new SARS epidemic. If Henry Niman's vision of the future is correct, we could have a major catastrophe in the United States and elsewhere this winter. SARS could end up being the number one issue in the next election.
One more suggestion for the Times. Investigate the role of pigs in the SARS epidemic. We predict they'll find a big story there.
