SARS—What is next and how do you know?



The rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) early in 2003 and the resultant actions by government agencies around the world shows how quickly a major crisis can affect our ever shrinking globe. SARS, political turmoil and other fast moving events seem to be occurring with more frequency. So how do we learn about and monitor a major health issue such as an epidemic or serious health hazard on the Internet? You can begin your research with the traditional search engines that will list thousand of entries. To narrow your search for information on a particular epidemic or outbreak of a disease in a certain region, we suggest you begin with some of the following resources.

You can start your quest concerning any major health issue with the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention,¹ commonly known as the CDC, where you can find information about health issues in the U.S. and foreign countries. You can find the most recent information about infectious diseases, epidemics and other serious health hazards worldwide at the CDC site. The World Health Organization,² WHO, web site is another good site for information on health issues around the world. The site is set up with major announcements on the home page that allows those searching for information to quickly get to the key issues at hand. Announcements about major epidemics such as SARS and regional outbreaks of cholera or other health threats are prominently displayed on the home page so you can concentrate on a specific region of concern or on a particular type of health issue.

At the United States Department of State³ web site you can find announcements and warnings about medical and health issues in other countries. The State Department most often will then point you in the direction of the CDC and WHO. The State Department site is well organized and contains plenty of information about countries around the world. The Canadian Consular Affairs⁴ web site is another on-line location with information to assist with finding the latest information on major issues of concern for foreign locations.

There are a number of non-government sites with travel information to help you prepare for your trip. We found educational institutions with medical schools and large departments dedicated to the study of public health to be good sources of information. Some of those we found most useful were the Kansas University Medical Center,⁵ the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,⁶ the Lane Medical Library at the Stanford University Medical Center⁷ and the Harvard University World Health News⁸ information center.

In the private sector we found many of the sites concentrate on selling products and training courses. For information on travel medicine visit the web site for the International Society of Travel Medicine.⁹ The ISTM, is represented in 53 countries with members that include physicians, nurses and public health professionals from academia, government and the private sector. The ISTM site is very well organized with information from CDC and WHO that is synthesized and summarized into easy to use categories.

Major news sites naturally carry articles about major on-going epidemics or major health issues. You can find much of what you need on the traditional news sites such as CNN,¹⁰ CBS,¹¹ ABC,¹² MSNBC,¹³ FOX,¹⁴ BBC¹⁵ and other major media. Don’t forget the major papers that are on-line such as the Washington Post,¹⁶ New York Times¹⁷ and Los Angeles Times.¹⁸ These major publications will have up-to-date articles, some with in-depth information. Have a safe and healthy journey on your search for information.