Within a few weeks of the HZS2 super spreader event, atypical pneumonia had spread to 25 countries across five continents, infecting some 8000 people and resulting in 774 deaths before succumbing to aggressive public health measures in early July 2003. In addition to the large outbreaks widely recognized in cities in Singapore, Taiwan, China, and Canada, smaller communities were also affected. An individual visiting a sick relative in Canada contacted the disease during the second wave of the Toronto outbreak, returning to North Carolina in late May 2003. He developed symptomatic disease 1 day after working several days on a rural college campus in central North Carolina. After being confirmed as a SARS case, the University spent ∼$40-50k screening some 42 potentially exposed individuals. Amazingly, a mystery disease whose index case was identified 6 months earlier on the other side of the globe had arrived in rural North America. It is not surprising that the panic caused by the rapid spread of an unknown highly pathogenic, fatal respiratory virus is enormous and no community is exempt. Coupled with the current globalization of the world trade, it was inevitable that the economic impact would be extensive.