TB Scare Recalls the First Days of SARS
Doctor recounts fight against one of the deadliest epidemics in Asia's history.
June 5, 2007 — -- Sitting in isolation in a Denver hospital, his mouth and nose covered by a mask, Andrew Speaker has become the public face of tuberculosis.
The Atlanta-area lawyer's fight with the infectious disease and the story of his flight back to the United States from abroad in spite of warnings from the CDC have been dominating American news headlines since last week.
But for those living in Asia, the story is familiar. Of course, it's bird flu, not TB, that fascinates and frightens the region, and instead of one infection, the numbers reach into the thousands.
Hong Kong-based physician Dr. C.M. Chu lives these numbers every day from his station on the front lines of a continent's battle with SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), recalling the first days of the epidemic.
On March 17, 2003 -- his 39th birthday -- Chu, head of respiratory medicine at United Christian hospital, made his usual rounds at the hospital. That night, instead of going home to celebrate, he was called into an emergency meeting about the virus now commonly known as SARS. A week later, a patient was admitted to his hospital with the same alarming symptoms as those described in the meeting. The experience would change his life forever.
According to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong, SARS originated in southern China in November 2002, arrived in Hong Kong in February 2003 and then rapidly spread to 29 regions on five continents.
Nearly 8,100 people worldwide were infected and 774 died.
While these numbers may seem small next to a global population of 6.5 billion, they were overwhelming for the professionals who had to battle the invisible disease against the clock.
It is now four years later, early on a Saturday morning. Chu waves his hand over a sensor to trigger open the heavy double sliding doors he must enter to make his regular ward rounds. They're the same floors he worked on during the outbreak.
Wearing black, wire-rimmed glasses and a boyish smile, he is dressed to perfection despite being color blind. He wears a crisp white shirt, blue and white striped tie, pressed beige pants and silver cuff links that peek out from under his stark white lab coat. The doctor's attire today is in stark contrast to the protective gear he wore in 2003.
Related Stories
ABC News Live