Latest reports by New York Times report 4000 SARS cases being quarantined in Beijing, China. Hysteria over SARS still engulfs Beijing and some people began trying to escape the Chinese capital while others frantically stocked up on basic groceries fearing that the authorities would quarantine the whole city. In Toronto, Canada, Mayor Mel Lastman vociferated in his typical manner about the state of emergency in his city. Airline chiefs discussed the billion-dollar losses from the collapse of international travel – Was this the first global epidemic of the 21st century?

Since the virus first began to spread in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong last November it has affected almost 5500 people worldwide, mostly in south-east Asia but also in Canada where hundreds of cases are suspected or have been confirmed.

In India, officials reported the first four cases and the government ordered airport workers to wear face masks and to screen people entering international airports. Of the four cases, one recovered and the other three were in isolation wards.

Britain had also reported a number of cases, which the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson, assured were “under control.”

In Singapore, one of the first countries outside China to experience the disease, the toll rose to over twenty deaths. Officials have stated that all visitors to the city state would have their temperature checked.

In Taiwan, a hospital was closed off in the capital, Taipei, after city officials said that a further 16 people may have become infected.

Hong Kong officials announced the quarantine net there is being widened to include people exposed or suspected of being infected, as well as confirmed cases. They also said that 30 more infections have been confirmed, taking the total in the city to 1,488.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization reports that 3000 children die of malaria each day. Seven out of 10 of childhood deaths in developing countries can be attributed to just five main causes, or often to a combination of them: pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, malaria and malnutrition. Tuberculosis (TB) kills approximately 2 million people each year.

So what gives? Is SARS just a creation of the media? To be fair, the hype surrounding SARS can be attributed to the fact that it is a “new” disease, and scientists have not been able to come up with its real cause and treatment. However, to name it already a “global” epidemic is more than hyperbole, it is exploitation.

Remember 2001’s coverage of shark attacks? It seemed everywhere you looked someone in the press was talking about the "Summer of the Shark." This was of course a few weeks before September 11.

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