The SARS outbreak in the Toronto area was way way more dangerous. The disease was airborne, extremely contagious, and it was able to kill doctors and nurses even in a modern hospital setting despite the staff was trying to take extra precautions. But it was so nasty that the epidemic burned itself out. I don’t think many people realize what a close call that was.
The other important factor (not mentioned in the article) is the disease being spread by infectious people who do not have symptoms, or else they have minor symptoms. AIDS, TB, hepatitis, and influenza kill huge numbers of people, but the disease is mostly spread by people who don’t know they have the disease. This can be due to a lengthy incubation period before symptoms appear (AIDS) or a low rate of mortality (flu and hepatitis).
With hepatitis, there can be carriers who recover but are still infectious. Having single “Typhoid Mary” carrier makes a great drama, and it’s often a senseless plot point in epidemic movies. Once a million people are infected, finding “Patient Zero” really isn’t going to make the problem go away.
