Not to sound alarmist, but what do people think about the Respiratory infection that seems to be a super-flu, and has killed 9? From the reports, it has started in several southeastern Asian countries (China, Vietnam), and has already travelled to different points, including Europe, via non-quarantined airline flights.<BR><BR>My main concern is the air quality of the airplanes. If this is an airborne virus, and since we all know the airlines recycle the cabin air on flights, is anyone worried about flying?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/03/17/mystery.disease/index.html<BR><BR>CNN's story on the above

I am worried about that too, you are not alone. I leave Sunday from Los Angeles to London and am worried about 12 hours worth of recycled air!

So lets just blame it on Iraq and let congress call it Freedom Flu.

It seems like it's another case of where absence of freedom of the press is a deadly thing. The Chinese seem to have come out from under a rock today or yesterday and admitted that ...oh yeah, we can tell you that we have been concerned about this since LAST NOVEMBER, and ummm, well about 60 people (or is it 300?) people have died from &quot;this&quot; <BR><BR>Oh, and yeah well, yes, we have forbidden all our media to report on this because, well, ummm, we ummm...<BR><BR>On the other hand, still a drop in the bucket, compared to highway fatalities in the western world since last november, or the 10-times higher number of HIV-associated deaths in Africa and on other continents.<BR><BR>Grim subjects; even the superflu seems scarcely relevant to a travel forum.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

GreenDragon writes<BR>&gt;My main concern is the air quality of the airplanes. If this is an airborne virus, and since we all know the airlines recycle the cabin air on flights, is anyone worried about flying?&lt;<BR> It's not the recycled air, that's the problem, it's whoever coughs or sneezes on you that you have to worry about. Just like any other flu virus.<BR><BR>

I work in the public health field and get newsletters daily on various issues, including this one. This is the official link to info on this illness on the CDC's web page, which includes WHO information, if you are interested:<BR>http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/<BR><BR>It isn't a flu but atypical pneumonia, and it doesn't concern me -- there are a lot other things going on in the world right now that are bigger worries. From what I've read, it isn't considered an airborne disease, anyway, but is transmitted by droplets, meaning you'd have to be in close contact with someone.<BR><BR>I have read nothing on this that said China only admitted to this yesterday --they reported their cases to the WHO a month ago, I believe, and the WHO has been investigating since then. It's not a press issue.

* * *<BR><BR>DOCTORS IDENTIFY BUG --- see article on CNN . . . . . HONG KONG, China -- As many as five people have died in Hong Kong from a mystery virus authorities now believe has mutated from a common childhood disease. <BR><BR>http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/03/19/mystery.disease.virus/index.html<BR><BR>

&lt;&lt;I have read nothing on this that said China only admitted to this yesterday --they reported their cases to the WHO a month ago, I believe, and the WHO has been investigating since then. It's not a press issue.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>I've just done a news story search to try to verify what (I thought?) I heard on the radio yesterday (on NPR?)<BR><BR>This is the only thing I found, and since it's from the New York Post and no other similar story in print anywhere else, maybe it really wasn't worth repeating.<BR><BR>http://www.nypost.com/news/worldnews/71008.htm<BR>