Researchers seem to be on the heels of the cause of a mysterious illness, sometimes fatal gave the world jitters in recent days. Independent research teams in Germany and Hong Kong have examined samples of patients and found what appears to be a paramyxovirus - a member of a large family that has caused several serious outbreaks in recent years. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta studied 11 possible cases of the disease, called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the United States.
Yesterday, virologists institutes in Hamburg, Marburg and Frankfurt am Main in Germany said that the use of electron microscopy, they found particles that look visually known members of the Paramyxoviridae family in respiratory samples Singaporese a doctor who was hospitalized in Frankfurt last week after attending a conference in New York City. Today, researchers at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong Chinese University have reported seeing the same virus particles. Both cautioned that the findings should be repeated in more patients, and even then, that this new virus may not be the culprit.
paramyxovirus gained notoriety after a vicious outbreak of Nipah virus in Malaysia and Singapore have killed more than 100 people and ravaged the Malaysian pig industry 4 years ago ( science NOW, April 13, 1999). A few years earlier, a member of the same family named Hendra had surfaced in Australia, killing two. fruit-eating bats proved to be the natural reservoir for the virus ( Science NOW, July 18, 00). But the family also includes the very common human viruses such as parainfluenza viruses, measles and mumps. Because reliable tests for all known members of the family have negative, "my presumption is that ... this may be a new virus," says CDC virologist Larry Anderson.
The disease also seems to have reached the US Today, CDC announced that there are 11 cases of SARS suspects under investigation. the number fluctuates, CDC director Julie Gerberding told reporters that patients are added or removed from the list. Flu- and pneumonia symptoms are as common; now that patients who have recently traveled to an area where local transmission of SARS took place - Guangdong province of China, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Singapore and Toronto - are considered potential cases
Related Sites.
latest news about SARS on ProMED, a mailing list on disease outbreaks
press release on a suspect case the County of Los Angeles
the World health Organization
Updates on SARS from the US centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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