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See also: Progress of the SARS outbreak and Severe acute respiratory syndrome.
The SARS coronavirus is the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). On April 16 2003, following the outbreak of SARS in Asia and secondary cases elsewhere in the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a press release stating that the coronavirus identified by a number of laboratories was the official cause of SARS.
On April 12, 2003, scientists working 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 led 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 the WHO as an important step forward in fighting SARS, is 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." *
The sequence of the SARS coronavirus has since been confirmed by other independent groups.
The disease caused by the virus was unexpectedly eradicated by the WHO in 2005. Though the virus still exists, only in 5 labs in the world, one in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Toronto, Washington DC, and Manila, Philippines.
Scientific and medical journal articles
External links
- WHO press release identifying and naming the SARS virus
- The SARS virus genetic map
- Science special on the SARS virus (free content: no registration required)
- McGill University SARS Resources (From web archive)
- Centre for Disease Control (CDC) SARS home
"SARS coronavirus"