The doctor who first alerted the world to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (an epidemic hitting various places around the world - 1500 infectees, 54 fatalities) has just died of the illness.

A tragic irony, I suppose.


Meanwhile, the Chinese government (China being the source of the epidemic) is enforcing a news blackout, to prevent a panic amongst the public. They're being roundly condemned by the WHO for not alerting anyone to the outbreak.

They're stalling giving permission to WHO doctors to enter the country.

Is it just me, or does the Chinese government overreact to everything?

Or is it perhaps something to do with the phrase that I've heard no one using?

Could this be an artificially engineered virus? Certainly, the WHO is quoted as having said, "This virus is unlike any known human or animal member of the virus family." So, has a secret (and probably illegal) Chinese bio-weapon escaped a lab and infected locals, only to be carried around the world (including to the UK) by air travellers?

It's like we're living the preamble of a post-apocalyptic novel, albeit on a far smaller scale.