Finland:
Finland, with 18 'suspected' SARS cases, had a case that worsened this week, becoming that country's first 'probable' SARS case.

Helsinkin Sangomat reported on May 7: “The first likely case of SARS in Finland has been identified at the Turku University Central Hospital (TYKS)... The hospital announced on Tuesday that a young man who recently returned home after a visit to Toronto checked in on Wednesday last week complaining of high fever, flu symptoms, cough, and breathing difficulties."

The NY Times, May 9, reports on an article soon to be published in the medical journal, The Lancet. (As of May 9, 1100h Eastern Daylight Time, the article is not yet available on the Web site.)

Dr. Edison Liu and others reviewed the genetic sequence of 9 samples of the SARS coronavirus, obtained from seriously ill patients in different countries. The genomes were quite similar, with almost all of the 29,000+ nucleotides being the same, comparing the RNA from the various viruses.

The findings were encouraging because if the virus remains stable chances are increased that a vaccine might be developed, the authors and other experts said yesterday. That effort is expected to take years.

But the experts said that the findings also meant that SARS, unlike some other new and emerging diseases, had not weakened as it passed through successive generations. Some experts had expressed hope that the virus would cause less severe illness as it spread.

China's chief of SARS control supports traditional Chinese Medicine:
China continues to chart a different course, in managing its SARS crisis.

If China is the other side of the ‘Looking Glass’, then Vice-Premier Wu Yi may be that dream world's 'Red Queen'.

China Daily, May 9, reports that Wu Yi, the Chinese official in charge of SARS prevention and control, favours the use of traditional Chinese medicine against SARS:

Vice-Premier and Health Minister Wu Yi Thursday highlighted the role of traditional Chinese medicine in treating Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients and called for further recognition of the scientific value of the traditional therapy in the fight against the disease.

During a symposium attended by renowned traditional medicine experts in Beijing, Wu urged the active application of traditional medical resources to the anti-SARS fight and called for even greater dedication on the part of medical staff on the front line of the battle against SARS.

Wu, also commander-in-chief of China's SARS prevention and control headquarters, had high praise for the noble spirit and dedication of medical personnel working with traditional methods and reserved her highest praise for senior staff for their active participation in anti-SARS work.

Traditional Chinese medicine has not only contributed tremendously to the development and prosperity of the Chinese nation, but has a positive impact on the advancement and progress of world civilization, said Wu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

In Newsday, May 9, Laurie Garrett wrote:

The city's chief epidemiologist, Dr. Liang Wannian, appeared on national television several times this week claiming the municipal outbreak is under control. He has frequently referred to it as having gone "from triple digits of new cases every day, down to double digits."

But on only two days did the new case tally drop below 80, and the past two days have seen 97 and 94 new cases, respectively - numbers in line with the roughly 100 cases a day for more than two weeks.

Click here, for the May 9 SARS Update.