Twenty-First Century Plague: The Story of Sars

Twenty-First Century Plague: The Story of Sars

by Thomas Abraham

Hong Kong University Press $195

Measles is an infectious viral disease causing fever and a red rash. It typically occurs in childhood and, nowadays, children are vaccinated against it. But in the days of the Roman Empire, measles was a death sentence. The ancient virus that causes measles made the jump from cattle, as did its far nastier cousin, smallpox. The human body managed to deal with the first, building immunity to its worst effects. Science consigned the other to history.

'At every stage of human evolution, new viruses have passed from animals to man,' writes Thomas Abraham in his introduction to Twenty-First Century Plague. 'Over time, virus and host reach an accommodation.'

When an unknown virus emerged shortly before November 16, 2002, in Foshan, Guangdong, it appeared as a respiratory ailment in a 46-year-old village committee official. It emerged again on December 10 in a 34-year-old cook at a restaurant in Heyuan serving wild animal meat. He was transferred to Guangzhou Military General Hospital, where seven medical workers fell ill.

By the end of July last year, the official count would be 8,098 cases across 29 countries with 774 deaths, giving a fatality rate of 9.6 per cent (confusingly given as 11 per cent in the book).