The following 'remedy for Sars' was seen this week in the official Health Daily issued by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine: 'Put 10 grams of dead silkworms and 10 grams of cicada skins in water with five herbs, boil for 20 minutes and drink the water like tea for seven to 10 days.' And on Friday, Beijing's popular tabloid, The Star Daily, advised Sars sufferers to brew soup containing 'one turnip, the peel from half an orange, three slices of ginger and two chunks of leek'.

All these 'cures' lead us to suspect that those mainland doctors who still claim they have Sars under control are brewing up a soup of their own. The recipe? 'Put 50 per cent of the Sars case files in a large container. Discard.'