SARS is a coronavirus.

What does it mean? It's not as contagious as many feared--if you avoid being coughed or spit on, or wash up after that occurs, you can avoid it--it's not transmitted through the air. And now that they've nailed it, they have a good chance of developing a vaccine.

[Update on Thursday morning]

Many viruses like this are species crossovers, usually from domesticated animals. But now there's a report that the early victims had been handling wild game. That's inconsistent with the story above, though. I guess they still don't quite have it nailed down, or else this latest story is a false lead.

There's nothing like getting off a 22 hour flight from Taiwan with a stop over in Singpore to listen to news about a "new" virus killing people in the Far East.

Just the kind of thing to get the paranoia running.