"Suspected Case of SARS in China Alarms Officials
By KEITH BRADSHER
Published: December 27, 2003
HONG KONG, Saturday, Dec. 27 — A free-lance television employee has fallen ill 80 miles from here in southern China with what doctors suspect is SARS, health officials here and in mainland China said on Saturday afternoon.
The unidentified man has the clinical symptoms of severe acute respiratory syndrome, including a full-blown respiratory tract infection and fever, said P.Y. Lam, Hong Kong's director of health.
But a laboratory test for antibodies against the virus was inconclusive, possibly because blood was drawn for the test early in the illness, while a genetic test for the virus has not yet been completed, Dr. Lam said.
"There is reason to believe it is SARS," based on the symptoms, but the evidence is not conclusive, he added...."
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/27/health/27SARS.html?ex=1073192400&en=abf007e50591fedc&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLESince we're talking plagues....