Sars has had a dramatic effect on the way people go about their daily lives in places that have had outbreaks of the disease. Some of these changes have been merely inconvenient, while others serve as frightening reminders of how quickly a disease can turn life upside down—not only for those who are infected, but for healthy people, too.

Clean Tires and Disinfectant

Once the Chinese government realized that it was necessary to openly confront the SARS epidemic, life changed quickly for the Chinese people. Interestingly, China's authoritarian system, which has been widely criticized as repressive, proved to be very useful in fighting the epidemic. "In a country where the government rules by fist," notes observer Kathy Chen, "its orders to fight [SARS] have been carried out in spades."For example, the state-run media were required to run public service programs...