Taiwanese doctor takes a Japanese tour, despite SARS-related illness:
Daily Yomiuri Online, May 17: A Taiwanese doctor with recent contact with SARS patients, took a tour through Japan. He developed a fever while in Japan, but apparently did not seek medical care and did not quarantine himself. He has returned to Taiwan, where he is believed to be infected with SARS. In Japan, investigations of airline employees, hotel workers and other contacts are ongoing. See also, Reuters, May 16.

Taiwan SARS outbreak continues to flare:
April 24: 41 probable cases.
May 2: 100 probable cases, 8 deaths.
May 9: 149 probable cases, 13 deaths, 229 suspected cases.
May 14: 238 probable cases, 30 deaths.
May 15: 264 probable cases, 34 deaths. 281 suspected. > 20,000 in quarantine.
May 16: 274 probable cases, 35 deaths.
May 17: 308 probable cases, 35 deaths.
Graphs, maps and an epidemic curve are here.

NY Times, May 16: Taiwan's Health Minister accepts responsibility for poor handling of SARS and resigns. More here from AP, May 16.

TaipeiTimes, May 16: Hospital situation worsens as 3 more die.

"Last week I assumed that SARS infections could be gradually brought under control, but given the current hospital infections, I have to modify my assumption," he [Lee Ming-liang, head of the SARS task force] said. "The rate of hospital transmission is in an urgent state. Preventing hospital transmission and community transmission are the two priorities in current anti-SARS work."

Active cases of SARS:
As of May 16:
China--------2969
Hong Kong---297
Taiwan-------193
USA------------31
Singapore----20
Canada--------11
Philippines------6
France----------3

More data available on this world map, from WHO.

Chinese SARS statistics are untrustworthy:
Reuters via Yahoo!, May 17:WHO Says China Doctors Still Under-Reporting SARS.

The WHO said it was still too early to say if China -- the worst hit country with 275 deaths and more than 5,000 cases -- was past its peak of SARS cases, because doctors were not fully reporting cases due to misunderstandings about the symptoms.

The WHO criticized China in April for dramatically under-reporting cases of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and the world's most populous country responded by sacking its health minister and the mayor of Beijing for negligence.

After visits by WHO officials to Beijing hospitals, the United Nations agency said it was concerned that some cases were being excluded because patients had no known contact with a SARS victim or because they had mild symptoms that soon cleared up.

As for the epidemic's lessons about transparency, and calls for truthfulness in reporting by the new leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, so far these seem to mean chiefly that the top leaders don't want to be lied to by their fearful subordinates. The WHO is still pressing Chinese health authorities for a full epidemiological analysis of existing SARS cases, including such details as their ages and apparent paths of infection. Even for the 2000 cases in Beijing, this is not yet forthcoming.

As for the public, the Taiyuan teaching hospital's propaganda head, Ms Zuo Xiuhua, encapsulates the attitude of many officials: "I am obliged only to report to my superiors."

Click here to read the complete May 17 SARS Update.