Mystery SARS virus revealed

SCIENTISTS have unlocked two secrets of the deadly SARS virus that could help speed the development of accurate tests for the disease.

SCIENTISTS have unlocked two secrets of the deadly SARS virus that could help speed the development of accurate tests for the disease.Dutch scientists have accurately identified the disease that causes SARS, a SARS-associated coronavirus (SCV). Six criteria must be satisfied to establish a virus as the cause of a disease. Until now, only three had been satisfied. Scientists from Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam have fulfilled the requirements for the remaining three criteria. The team infected macaques with the human coronavirus, re-isolated the pathogen from the sick animals, and demonstrated the animals had mounted an immune response against the virus to accurately identify the SCV. (Source: BBC, MICHELLE POUNTNEY, 15 May 2003)