- News>
Scientists confirm new virus as cause of SARS
London, Apr 16: Scientists have confirmed the identity of the virus which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, a lethal new disease first detected in Asia, the World Health Organization said today.
London, Apr 16: Scientists have confirmed the identity of the virus which causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, a lethal new disease first detected in Asia, the World Health Organization said today.
In experiments conducted at Erasmus University in
Rotterdam, Netherlands, scientists infected monkeys with the
coronavirus suspected of causing of SARS and found that the
animals developed the same symptoms of the disease that humans
do.
The test was a crucial step in verifying the cause of the disease, which has so far made at last 3,235 people ill in 22 countries and killed 161 people worldwide, mostly in China and Hong Kong.
Scientists had been almost certain that the new form of coronavirus first isolated from sick patients March 27 by the university of Hong Kong was the cause of SARS.
But they could not say for sure until they had satisfied what is known as the Koch's postulates - four scientific tests that verify whether a bug causes a certain disease.
"The Koch's postulates have been fulfilled, so we can now say for certain that the new coronavirus is the cause of SARS," said Klaus Stohr, a who virologist who participated in a conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong said a new genetic sequencing of the SARS virus proves conclusively that it came from animals. But, the virus is nonetheless "something that is new to science," said Malik Peiris, a microbiologist at the university, said before the who findings were announced.
Asked about the possibility that the virus was man-made, Peiris said there was no chance of that. "That whole genome is essentially new," he said. Bureau Report
The test was a crucial step in verifying the cause of the disease, which has so far made at last 3,235 people ill in 22 countries and killed 161 people worldwide, mostly in China and Hong Kong.
Scientists had been almost certain that the new form of coronavirus first isolated from sick patients March 27 by the university of Hong Kong was the cause of SARS.
But they could not say for sure until they had satisfied what is known as the Koch's postulates - four scientific tests that verify whether a bug causes a certain disease.
"The Koch's postulates have been fulfilled, so we can now say for certain that the new coronavirus is the cause of SARS," said Klaus Stohr, a who virologist who participated in a conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong said a new genetic sequencing of the SARS virus proves conclusively that it came from animals. But, the virus is nonetheless "something that is new to science," said Malik Peiris, a microbiologist at the university, said before the who findings were announced.
Asked about the possibility that the virus was man-made, Peiris said there was no chance of that. "That whole genome is essentially new," he said. Bureau Report