TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES.

Discusses the efforts of health authorities in China to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). How citizens of Beijing, China have gone into seclusion; Speculation that SARS emerged from the southern province of Guangdong, China; Effects of the epidemic on the economy in China; Suggestion that the Chinese government attempted to cover up the SARS outbreak at first; Impact of the misinformation campaign with regard to public health; Role of representatives from the World Health Organization on their visits to hospitals in Beijing. INSET: ANATOMY OF A MEDICAL CALAMITY.