CDC Director Talks about SARS

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was in Berkeley last night to talk about the national health system´s preparations for another terrorist attack. Instead, Dr. Julie Gerberding spent most of her time talking about severe acute respiratory syndrome. That´s the contagious disease that has spread from Asia to the United States and elsewhere.

Gerberding told the U.C. Berkeley audience that for the first time, a U.S. medical worker caring for a suspected SARS patient has likely come down with the disease. She didn´t say where the stricken worker lives.

Health care workers were among the early victims as the disease began to spread in Asia. Current figures indicate there are 2,600 people infected by the illness worldwide, with 148 of them in the U.S. She says it appears most people who contract the illness are recovering.