Experts trying to explain how SARS infected an entire apartment building in Hong Kong now think the cause was cockroaches, who carried the infection from apartment to apartment. It’s a unique situation because the disease spread so quickly?with more than 300 new cases in just a few days. Most of those who became infected did not have contact with anyone who had SARS. Hong Kong Deputy Director of Health Leung Pak-yin says, “The drainage may be the reason. It is possible that the cockroaches carried the virus into the homes.”
We used to think we were safe from SARS if we stayed off airplanes coming from China or Hong Kong. We also vowed to stay out of subways and crowded movie theaters and to avoid anyone with flu symptoms. But cockroaches? Get out the bug spray.
This is one time we wish that everything in the world WASN’T connected.
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