Better safe than sorry

Diseases. Animals. Death. Etc. I can't seem to get away from it.

Last week I wrote about avian flu and Streptococcus suis (aka pig disease). No one outside of the region is really worried about pig disease but of course everyone is on high alert for H5N1 to jump to humans anytime now. Everyone's waiting for SARS version 2.0 that is even more deadly and experts say has the potential to kill 360 million people worldwide. I hope the hype and the fear will lead to all the drama that Y2K resulted in. Talk about anti-climactic. Still, it's better to be safe than sorry.

At the moment, I live in Kowloon Bay in a housing estate that shares the same block as Amoy Gardens. Amoy Gardens is still, to this day, dubbed the epicentre of SARS here in Hong Kong. SARS infected 329 of the residents who lived in Amoy Gardens, and of the 299 Hong Kong people who died of the diease, 42 died lived at the estate. Everytime I walk by, see its name on a sign or hear the name, I can't shake the images of masked people and the fear that the person walking towards me might sneeze in my direction.

Although some people have learned their lessons from SARS, not everyone has and unfortunately, this affects all of us. Despite the horrible memory of disease, many people don't wash their hands with soap after using the toilet (gross). I've seen them! I've seen food hawkers in Causeway Bay hork (phlegmy goodness) into a can inches away from their food. And the washrooms, don't even get me started. The list goes on but you get the ugly picture. Yes, Hong Kong, is a potential epicentre for avian flu outbreak. But even those of you back home in Canada aren't safe. Remember Jan Wong's column about how SARS spread from China to Hong Kong and then Canada and the world? Even if you do, I suggest reading it for a recap (scroll to the bottom of page).

I know this may come across over-cautious but I will be stocking up on alcohol swabs, masks and all that stuff soon. I already wash my hands like a freak. Better safe than sorry!