Two SARS cases in Tallahassee, Florida in 2003?

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This is a pretty reliable source:

http://www.scottmcpherson.net/journal/2011/9/12/contagion-is-a-deeply-unsettling-haunting-and-mostly-realist.html

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SARS was not the exclusive province of China, Toronto or Singapore. Two prominent Tallahassee residents (who I obviously cannot identify for HIPAA reasons) were infected by SARS during a visit to China in 2003. The CDC and WHO were actually monitoring their health following their return to Tallahassee. By proxy, they were monitoring Tallahassee for signs of SARS infection.

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The issue is that the CDC reported only 8 confirmed cases (several MMWR below), in seven different states (California being the only state with two cases):

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/news.htm

So are these retrospectively identified cases, or should the new article have contained the word "suspect"? There were several hundred suspected, but negative cases in the USA...

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Re: Two SARS cases in Tallahassee, Florida in 2003?

http://volusia.org/emergency/sarsupdate.htm

April 28, 2003
Lindsay Hodges
Department of Health

Department of Health Provides Update on Response to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Tallahassee - The Florida Department of Health (DOH) is currently investigating one additional suspect case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) - a 58-year-old male Sarasota County resident treated in a Charlotte County medical facility. DOH is reporting a total to date of 15 suspect cases and two probable cases to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

DOH is working with the CDC to identify potential cases of SARS in citizens and visitors to Florida. The state is working with local health officials and clinicians to watch for patients who became sick after February 1 and have symptoms of the respiratory illness.

As of April 24, 2003, the CDC reported 213 suspect and 41 probable cases, for a combined total of 254 suspect and probable SARS cases in 38 states.

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Re: Two SARS cases in Tallahassee, Florida in 2003?

This newspaper (April 3, 2003) reports two SUSPECT cases in Tallahassee:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=20030403&id=4uNOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5_0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6608,990962