FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles, CA.

April 8, 2003

Unauthorized Use of FCAM Name in Hoax Email

Friends of Chinese American Museum (FCAM) regrets any inconvenience, misunderstanding, concern, or duress due to an unauthorized e-mail that was forwarded into circulation on Monday, April 7, 2003 under the electronic printed signature of its volunteer coordinator, Ms. Barbie Chien. This e-mail titled “URGENT! SARS Has Spreaded in San Gabriel Valley” was NOT authored by FCAM and is NOT part of Museum business, as it pretends to deal with an alleged health issue and certainly not with Chinese American heritage, history or culture.

This email was personal in nature and was never meant for public broadcast. FCAM had no prior knowledge of Ms. Chien's unilateral act and is extremely disturbed at the serious lack of judgment this person displayed. The Board will be holding an emergency meeting to take action against this problem and to prevent further occurrences.

Subsequently, the contents of this e-mail have been found to be completely erroneous and false. FCAM recommends that anyone seeking any information on SARS should depend only on LA County or State sources. The below is a copy of the response that we received from the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services for your information:

The Department of Health Services/Environmental Health has not closed any food facility or restaurant due to SARS, and the San Gabriel Police Department did not shut down any business.

In LA County we have counted just 7 persons that meet the definition of SARS [fever, respiratory complaint, travel to selected locations in Asia or contact with another SARS case]. All cases are doing well, none is hospitalized now, and no one has died. In fact, there are just 140 cases in the whole USA to date, and there has not been a single fatality yet; worldwide about 4% of cases have died, amounting to about 100 or so persons.

Certainly there will be additional SARS cases in Los Angeles -- that's expected due to the large number of family and business travelers between Southeast Asia and California. Just remember that you can reduce your chances of exposure to other people's germs by avoiding those who cough or sneeze, and by washing your hands frequently and keeping your fingers out of your mouth and eyes. If you or your family get sick with any infection, stay home from work or school; cover the mouth and nose when coughing, and wash your hands to keep from spreading germs in the environment.

Much more information about SARS can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/.
Information in Chinese is available at the Hong Kong Health Department site, but please remember -- the situation in Hong Kong is very different from what we are experiencing in the United States: http://sc.info.gov.hk/gb/www.info.gov.hk/dh/apc.htm or http://www.info.gov.hk/dh/apc.htm

Acute Communicable Disease Control
Department of Health Services
313 N. Figueroa St. #212
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Telephone: (213) 240-7941