SARS virus - Definition and Overview

See also: Progress of the SARS outbreak and Severe acute respiratory syndrome.

On April 16 2003, following the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia and secondary cases elsewhere in the world, the World Health Organization issued a press release stating that the coronavirus identified by a number of laboratories was the official cause of SARS. The virus was officially named the SARS virus.

On April 12, 2003, scientists working around the clock at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia finished mapping the genetic sequence of a coronavirus believed to be linked to SARS. The team was lead by Dr. Marco Marra and worked in collaboration with the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, using samples from infected patients in Toronto. The map, hailed by WHO as an important step forward in fighting SARS, is being shared with scientists worldwide via the GSC website (see below).

Dr. Donald Low of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto described the discovery as having been made with "unprecedented speed." [1] (http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/04/12/sars_code030412)

The sequence of the SARS virus has since been confirmed by other independent groups.

Scientific and medical journal articles

• J S M Peiris et. al. Coronavirus as a possible cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The Lancet, Volume 361, Number 9364, April 5, 2003. Available online at http://image.thelancet.com/extras/03art3477web.pdf
• Characterization of a Novel Coronavirus Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Paul A. Rota et al. Published online 1 May 2003; 10.1126/science.1085952
• The Genome Sequence of the SARS-Associated Coronavirus. Marco A. Marra et al. Published online 1 May 2003; 10.1126/science.1085953

External links

• WHO press release identifying and naming the SARS virus (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr31/en/)
• The SARS virus genetic map (http://www.bcgsc.ca/bioinfo/SARS/)
• Science special on the SARS virus (http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/sars/) (free content: no registration required)
• McGill University SARS Resources (http://www.health.library.mcgill.ca/resource/sars.htm)
• Centre for Disease Control (CDC) SARS home (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/)