History Now: SARS and the New Plagues (2003)

Why is SARS causing such fear when other diseases, like malaria and the flu virus, kill many more people? How was SARS first contracted? Was it through too close contact with animals? Unsanitary conditions? Is it manmade or a freak of nature? In a comprehensive hour on SARS and the new plagues affecting mankind today, we review past plagues--how they were contracted and controlled--and see how the lessons of history may apply to the current crisis.