something in the air? Scientists will not breathe until they understand what causes a mysterious respiratory illness.
A mysterious disease that causes flu-like symptoms and pneumonia rapidly around the world last week after sickening dozens Asia. More than 0 people in seven countries have fallen ill in recent weeks, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), and at least four died. These figures raise concerns about a new and uncontrollable pandemic.
Researchers are desperately trying to determine the cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), WHO has called the disease. Hospital staff seem to be more at risk, suggesting that close contact with a patient is necessary for infection. But until now, scientists are not even sure that the infection is viral or bacterial - much less how it spreads, or the best way to treat and prevent. The researchers tried to "a wide range phenomenal" diagnostic tests on samples available, says Klaus Stöhr, an expert from the flu to WHO in Geneva, but they were all negative. "We really have to start from zero and put aside all our hypotheses "in the search for a culprit, he said.
Initial symptoms include high fever, muscle aches, sore throat and headache, sometimes followed by pneumonia and acute respiratory distress. "This kind of flu screams," said Brian Hjelle, a virologist at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Indeed, some initially thought that the epidemic could be linked to a small outbreak of a virulent strain of bird flu, called H5N1, which has killed a man in Hong Kong last month and sickened her 9 year old son ( Science , 7 March, p. 1504). But such a link has been found, and most scientists say that if the disease was the flu, doctors have recognized now.
Other potential candidates include human parvovirus, or something that looks like Nipah, a paramyxovirus that triggered a deadly epidemic among pig farmers in Malaysia in 1999, said CJ Peters, director of the Center for biodefense at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Having studied deadly epidemics in many parts of the world, Peters said. "I do not know who gave me such a feeling of danger"
At the same time, the new home puts public fears bioterrorism and biodefense bloated budgets perspective reaffirming the impact of naturally occurring diseases, said Marjorie Pollack, which monitors the epidemic ProMED, an electronic reporting system in the world. says Pollack :. ". Mother Nature is by far the worst bioterrorist there "
With Gretchen Vogel reportage in Berlin
Related Sites
World Health Organization
health updates on SARS of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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