Kat:
   Since when is referring to a geopolitical entity as the source of the offending bug a racist slur? And, for that matter, which of the myriad races that reside in China was I slurring?

   I doubt that the healthcare workers who were first infected and made ill or killed by the bug were all that careful, as the virulent nature of the disease was not known at the time. As in most epidemics spawned by new organisms, the first to contact it are hardest hit. More's the pity, but that only goes to demonstrate the danger of ignorance. These folks were ignorant (not a slam, just recognizing that they had no understanding of the bug) of the danger and were victimized. How many healthcare workers are being infected today? Considerably less, I would suppose, because of the tendency to use (dare I reprise) proper hygiene, hand washing, common sense, symptomatic treatment and judicious use of antibiotics where appropriate.