Novel virus confirmed as cause of SARS

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Leading scientists can now be sure that a newly-discovered coronavirus is the culprit that causes SARS.
The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in recent months has prompted a flurry of new research. Of vital importance has been to identify the causative agent.

A new virus, SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), was soon picked out as a candidate. Now researchers at Erasmus University, The Netherlands, report on their studies of SARS-CoV, using data and samples collected by the World Health Organisation. Out of 436 patient samples, SARS-CoV was found in three-quarters of cases. And, importantly, the virus could reproduce a similar infection in experimental animals. This proves that SARS-CoV is the primary cause of SARS, which should greatly aid the development of a vaccine against this new disease.

Source
The Lancet on-line (www.thelancet.com) 22nd July 2003