There is no current consensus as to how explicitly and stringently the requirements for the duty to care should be stated [14] . In a 2003 survey of 1000 American physicians, respondents reported decidely mixed views on whether they would continue to care for patients in the event of an outbreak. Given that only a narrow majority of the surveyed physicians reported believing in a professional duty to treat patients in epidemics, the authors of the study concluded that there should be a reinforcement of "the [medical] profession's ethical duty to treat" in the event of a public health crisis [10] .