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April 16, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"How a Global Effort Identified SARS Virus in a Matter of Weeks"

Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) (04/16/03); Pottinger, Matt; Cherney, Elena; Naik, Gautam

Scientists have identified and decoded the virus causing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) within two months of its becoming known, a vast difference from the years it took to find HIV and deal with it.  Internet links and new technology let researchers work together on SARS, and their efforts could serve as a model for future disease outbreaks.  Dr. Klaus Stohr, manager of the World Health Organization's influenza program, brought in labs around the world so that researchers could work together. A password-controlled Web site made data-sharing simple and fast, and a brand-new virus-detecting tool--a gene chip--helped confirm the fact that SARS is caused by a new coronavirus.  Labs began sequencing the virus and posting the information, and the British Columbia Cancer Agency was the first to decode the entire sequence.  A diagnostic test could be available soon.

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