I don't normally re-print letters I've sent to someone but this time I
want to do so, because I want folks here to think about thanking any news
services which use a balanced approach to the SARS study, while finding
constructive ways to tell those news services which don't (no matter what
the media type is) that until they begin to be known for balanced
reporting that you will read other newspapers, listen to other radio
stations, watch other tv news, etc.  Anyway, I sent this to CNN in
relation to their web story.
 
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I want to thank you for often avoiding the declining spiral into which
so many other news stations throw themselves.  It is so common for them
to be so interested in the sensationalism that they cry wolf once too
often; then to combat losing viewers they shout even louder which only
further undermines their credibiltiy.
 
Yesterday (after you beat me to getting to read "Nature" :-)  ) you
reported on the imposed SARS infections in ferrets but you showed the
good sense to also interview those who were able to point out the
weaknesses of the studies done, the room for error in relation to
transmission assumptions, etc.  That was good and balanced reporting.
 
Given that in the lab ferrets and cats have been infected (and cats
also in a home setting in Hong Kong) -- and that dogs and other members
of Carnivora remain to be tested -- and given that in the live food
markets the animals with SARS were members of Order Carnivora in three
Families: the canids, the viverrids, and the mustelids, it is certainly
possible that vulnerability to SARS may extend to many members of Order
Carnivora (perhaps also to others beyond humans in Order Primates) and
if that is the case a more serious concern than the pet exposures over
which we have some control is the possibilty of widely spread wild
reservoirs *IF* there is another escape of the coronavirus.  This also
means that the pet species which are more likley to go outside (dogs,
cats) could pose a greater general threat *IF* they can transmit SARS.
Then again, it may turn out that it is not easily caught among members
of Carnivora -- that the animals need to have it really shoved upon them
or to be fed remains of infected animals.
 
I have a question for you: knowing that no one has truly looked at
transmission from cats and ferrets, has it yet been look at whether the
coronavirus entered humans through casual contact with the Asian species
involved, or was more possibly required for the jump such as a wound, or
eating the infected animals?  We know humans can tranmit the coronavirus
readily, but do we know if any of the animals (including those market
animals in Asia) can or if perhaps more is required?
 
Thanks again for avoiding the downward spiral of sensationalism and for
working to deliver balanced coverage!
 
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Like private individuals who are more and more ignored or scrolled past
because they repeatedly spread rumors and engage in extreme remarks and
sensationalism, news stations which do so are pushing themselves down
the drain...
[Posted in FML issue 4317]