Faculty Bibliography

Last week, scientists in Hong Kong and at the Center for Disease Control in Shenzhen, just across the Hong Kong border in Guangdong, reported finding the SARS virus in three species of animals Himalayan palm civets, raccoon dogs and badgers at a food market in Shenzhen. That discovery suggested, but did not prove, that the virus infects animals in the wild, making it virtually impossible to eradicate the disease. One of the two new studies involved workers at the same market. Dr. Klaus Stoehr, the scientific director of WHO's investigation of SARS in Geneva, said a team of virologists headed by Dr. Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University had tested blood taken from 10 market workers and found antibodies to the SARS virus in five. Antibodies are proteins that the immune system forms when it mounts an attack against a microbe. Although the findings are not definitive, they strengthen the suggestion that animals play a role in transmitting SARS, Stoehr said. The findings, he said, suggest that the spectrum of disease is wider than what we saw when SARS was first detected in March

Dr. Klaus Stoehr, the scientific director of WHO's investigation of SARS in Geneva, said that a team of virologists headed by Dr. Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University tested blood taken from 10 workers in the market and found antibodies to the SARS virus in five. Antibodies are specific proteins that the immune system forms when it mounts an attack against a microbe. Although the findings are not definitive, 'they strengthen the suggestion that animals play a role in transmitting SARS, Stoehr said. The results, he said, 'suggest that the spectrum of disease is wider than what we saw' when SARS was first detected in March as a severe form of atypical pneumonia in patients in Hanoi, Vietnam and Hong Kong. The need to develop an effective human SARS vaccine became more urgent with the discovery that the SARS virus exists outside humans. This left open the possibility that infected animals might be a continued source of infection in humans

Last week, scientists in Hong Kong and at the Center for Disease Control in Shenzen, just across the Hong Kong border in Guangdong province in mainland China, reported finding the SARS virus in three species of animals -- Himalayan, or masked, palm civets; raccoon dogs; and badgers -- bought in a food market in Shenzen. That discovery suggested, but did not prove, that the SARS virus infects animals in the wild, making it virtually impossible to eradicate the disease. Dr. Klaus Stoehr, the scientific director of WHO's investigation of SARS in Geneva, said a team of virologists headed by Dr. Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University tested blood taken from 10 workers in the market and found antibodies to the SARS virus in five. Antibodies are specific proteins that the immune system forms when it mounts an attack against a microbe

Last week, scientists in Hong Kong and at the Center for Disease Control in Shenzen, just across the Hong Kong border in Guangdong province in mainland China, reported finding the SARS virus in three species of animals -- Himalayan, or masked, palm civets; raccoon dogs; and badgers -- bought in a food market in Shenzen. That discovery suggested, but did not prove, that the SARS virus infects animals in the wild, making it virtually impossible to eradicate the disease. Dr. Klaus Stoehr, the scientific director of WHO's investigation of SARS in Geneva, said that a team of virologists headed by Dr. Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University tested blood taken from 10 workers in the market and found antibodies to the SARS virus in five. Antibodies are specific proteins that the immune system forms when it mounts an attack against a microbe. Although the findings are not definitive, 'they strengthen the suggestion that animals play a role in transmitting SARS, Stoehr said. The findings, he said, 'suggest that the spectrum of disease is wider than what we saw' when SARS was first detected in March as a severe form of atypical pneumonia in patients in Hanoi, Vietnam and Hong Kong

Last week, scientists in Hong Kong and the Center for Disease Control in Shenzen, just across the Hong Kong border in Guangdong in mainland China, reported finding the SARS virus in three species of animals -- the Himalayan, or masked, palm civets; raccoon dogs; and badgers -- bought in a food market in Shenzen. That discovery suggested, but did not prove, that the SARS virus infects animals in the wild, making it virtually impossible to eradicate the disease. Dr. Klaus Stohr, the scientific director of the W.H.O.'s investigation of SARS in Geneva, said that a team of virologists headed by Dr. Malik Peiris of Hong Kong University tested blood taken from 10 workers in the market and found antibodies to the SARS virus in 5, or 50 percent. Antibodies are specific proteins that the immune system forms when it mounts an attack against a microbe. But antibody tests obtained in such screening samples cannot determine when an individual was infected in the past. The workers with positive tests were said to be healthy and did not recall having a SARS-like illness recently, Dr. Stohr said. The need to develop an effective human SARS vaccine became more urgent with the discovery that the SARS virus exists outside humans. The discovery also left open the possibility that infected animals might be a continued source of infection in humans

The effort got results, and with extraordinary speed. SARS first came to the world's attention in mid-March, and only a week later, scientists isolated the virus that appeared to be causing it. A few weeks after that, two teams decoded the viral genome, providing information that could help to develop diagnostic tests, vaccines and anti-viral drugs and to find out where the virus came from. Last week, scientists pinpointed a possible source of SARS civets, badgers and raccoon dogs being sold for meat in China's Guangdong Province and were able to compare the gene sequence of the animal virus with the one found in people. That doesn't mean SARS comes from a cat, said Dr. Wun-Ju Shieh, a member of the pathology team. Indeed, last week, researchers in Hong Kong said they had found a virus nearly identical to the SARS virus in other animals, civets, badgers and raccoon dogs in Guangdong. At the University of California at San Francisco, Dr. Joseph DeRisi, an assistant professor of biochemistry and biophysics, could not wait to get his hands on virus samples from the CDC. We literally begged the CDC, DeRisi said. We were salivating. By mid-April, two laboratories had mapped the genome of the SARS virus. First to finish was the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, followed by the CDC. The findings confirmed what initial studies had suggested: The virus was different from any known coronavirus, different enough, in fact, to become the first member of a new grouping of coronaviruses. - Before SARS, few researchers studied coronaviruses. Known for making chickens cough and giving pigs diarrhea, coronaviruses were not seen as a path to scientific glory. In people they were thought to cause only mild diseases like colds and gut trouble, and many researchers found them unexciting, difficult to grow in the laboratory and generally not worth the bother. Before SARS came along, one scientist said, coronaviruses were a sleepy little corner of virology

Last week, scientists in Hong Kong and at the Center for Disease Control in Shenzen, just across the Hong Kong border in Guangdong province in mainland China, reported finding the SARS virus in three species of animals -- Himalayan, or masked, palm civets; raccoon dogs; and badgers -- bought in a food market in Shenzen. That discovery suggested, but did not prove, that the SARS virus infects animals in the wild, making it virtually impossible to eradicate the disease. Laboratories around the world have been racing to develop vaccines that might be used to prevent SARS in the event that the main control measures of isolating people with SARS and quarantining their contacts fail to stop transmission. The need to develop an effective human SARS vaccine became more urgent with the discovery that the SARS virus exists outside humans. This left open the possibility that infected animals might be a continued source of infection in humans

SARS first came to the world's attention in mid-March, and only a week later, scientists isolated the virus that appeared to be causing it. A few weeks after that, two teams decoded the viral genome, providing information that could help to develop diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral drugs and to find out where the virus came from. Last week, scientists pinpointed a possible source of SARS -- civets, badgers and raccoon dogs being sold for meat in China's Guangdong Province -- and were able to compare the gene sequence of the animal virus with the one found in people. Finding the origin of SARS, whether it is the civets and other animals or some other host, may also help researchers figure out how the virus evolved and how it found its way into people, Dr. [Kathryn V. Holmes] said. That question extends far beyond SARS, to the larger problem of emerging infectious diseases, a category that includes scores of infections like West Nile encephalitis, hantavirus, Lyme disease and AIDS. In San Francisco, Drs. [David Wang] and [Joseph DeRisi], top left, used a tool they developed called a microarray, far left, to compare SARS samples to gene fragments from 1,000 viruses. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, SARS and other highly dangerous diseases are studied in the special pathogens branch, led by Dr. [Thomas G. Ksiazek], above. Dr. [Wun-Ju Shieh], left, is a member of the pathology team at the C.D.C. that searched for a link to animals. (Photographs by Peter DaSilva for The New York Times, top left and far left; Robin Nelson, left and above); (Image courtesy of Dr. John Nicholls, The University of Hong Kong)(pg. A13)

A few weeks after that, two teams decoded the viral genome, providing information that could help to develop diagnostic tests, vaccines and antiviral drugs and to find out where the virus came from. Last week, scientists pinpointed a possible source of SARS - civets, badgers and raccoon dogs being sold for meat in China's Guangdong Province - and were able to compare the gene sequence of the animal virus with the one found in people. When pathologists at the disease centers learned that [Cynthia Goldsmith] had found a coronavirus, they tested SARS virus samples against 35 to 40 different coronavirus antibodies. Indeed, last week, researchers in Hong Kong said they had found a virus nearly identical to the SARS virus in other animals, civets, badgers and raccoon dogs in the market stalls of China's Guangdong Province

If [Chesley Richards Jr.] does have severe acute respiratory syndrome, it could deal Taiwan another blow in handling its outbreak. He attended a meeting Monday morning in the control room at Taiwan's Center for Disease Control with the senior Taiwan health officials leading their country's battle against the epidemic