Compared to the SARS epidemic, it is clear that the way in which China has responded to this virus is a major departure from its posture back in 2003. It is clear that Beijing has learned its lessons. This time, the Chinese government informed the World Health Organization on December 31 about the new virus which had been identified on December 26. With the SARS crisis, they did not report the virus to the WHO until four months after the first case was detected.