Descriptions of the SARS outbreak as an "epidemic" sounded overblown to me, so I did a little research. First, the Dictionary.com definition: "An outbreak of a contagious disease that spreads rapidly and widely." Second, the World Health Organization's report on cases worldwide as of April 19th: 3,547. Third, the projected current global population according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 6.29 billion. Fourth, the number of countries reporting cases, again according to WHO: 26 or 27, depending on whether you count China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as a country. With all sympathy for the people suffering from this disease, this is not an epidemic. It's an outbreak. ("A sudden increase.")
It's sudden because we've only just learned about it, and it's an increase because while there were probably many cases of a disease now called SARS months or years ago, the "SARS" count started when we started calling it SARS.
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