| Home > Resources > Leadership > Executive Summary > Case Studies Case Study 2003, New Yorkers Perceive SARS To Be Local Outbreak SARS had a negligible impact on New York City during the 2003 global outbreak. Nevertheless, at the peak of the global SARS outbreak, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene discovered that some anxious residents were transposing what they were reading and seeing about Hong Kong and other disease epicenters to conditions in New York City, where the impact had been minimal.That is, the crisis elsewhere became the baseline for what was perceived to be happening locally. Reference Roberts, S. Communicating with the public about public health preparedness. DIMACS Working Group on Modeling Social Responses to Bioterrorism involving Infectious Agents. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University; May 29, 2003. |
