Where Sars came from and where it has gone remains a mystery, even though five years have passed and a great deal of research has been carried out. Lessons have been learned from the terrible outbreak in 2003. But the true test will come when a similar virus strikes, as it inevitably will. Whether Sars will re-emerge is debatable, but there is no doubt that at some point another deadly infectious disease will hit Hong Kong.
The H5N1 virus, commonly known as bird flu, is already testing our defences. Tipped to be the cause of the next global pandemic, it has already caused three deaths in mainland China this year, the latest this week in northern Guangdong.
Preparedness is our best defence. The barriers have been put in place and through keeping them strong, we can at least be ready.
Though Hong Kong had been at the heart of global flu pandemics in 1957 and 1968 and was the first place where bird flu killed people, Sars taught us some hard lessons. Five years ago this week, with reports having swirled for weeks of a mystery illness causing deaths in Guangdong, our defences remained low.
On March 4, 2003, came the first death in Hong Kong from the then unnamed illness. Within a week, medical staff at ward 8A at Prince of Wales Hospital were stricken and on March 15, the World Health Organisation put out a travel alert in relation to the virus it had christened severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Three months of infections, quarantines, deaths and rushed-through policies followed. We learned what it was like to live in fear. Hong Kong became a ghost town; the economy faltered. Tourists stayed away. In the age of globalised travel, Sars spread like lightning. Even though the virus came from the mainland, Hong Kong - as an international crossroads - gained a reputation as the source and a place to be avoided.
