Saturday, July 12, 2003
AUSTRALIAN RESEARCHER IS SEARCHING
FOR SARS RESERVOIRS IN CHINA.
What follows is a media release from CSIRO, a scientific organization in Australia.
A senior CSIRO veterinarian begins a three-week visit to China on Friday to help coordinate an international investigation into the roles animals might play in spreading the deadly SARS virus.
One of CSIRO Livestock Industries' leading viral disease experts - Dr Laurie Gleeson from the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong - will visit several Chinese provinces while on secondment to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
His role will be to provide a focal point in communication between Chinese authorities, the FAO, the World Health Organisation and international researchers.
"FAO has taken the lead in providing this international collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in China. My role is to assist the government of China to develop their program to investigate animal-related aspects of the SARS epidemic," Dr Gleeson says.
"During the mission we will collate information on research to date and identify areas that require further research. We will also explore where international collaboration will assist China to quickly resolve some key issues, such as the need for diagnostic tests for animals," he says.
Since it was identified in Late February 2003, the SARS virus has infected more than 8,000 people world-wide, killed over 800 and continues to have a major impact on the global economy. The atypical pneumonia is believed to be caused by a newly identified type of coronavirus.
Dr Gleeson says a very similar virus has been isolated from civets and racoon dogs obtained from Chinese wildlife markets. However it is not clear if these animals are the 'natural host' of the virus.
"Antibodies to the SARS virus are not widespread in the human population, strongly suggesting that the virus is new to humans and that it has jumped from an animal species," he says.
"We need to know the natural host of the virus and understand if other animal species may become infected and able to transmit it so we can be prepared to prevent epidemics of SARS arising in the future," he says.
FOR SARS RESERVOIRS IN CHINA.
What follows is a media release from CSIRO, a scientific organization in Australia.
A senior CSIRO veterinarian begins a three-week visit to China on Friday to help coordinate an international investigation into the roles animals might play in spreading the deadly SARS virus.
One of CSIRO Livestock Industries' leading viral disease experts - Dr Laurie Gleeson from the Australian Animal Health Laboratory in Geelong - will visit several Chinese provinces while on secondment to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
His role will be to provide a focal point in communication between Chinese authorities, the FAO, the World Health Organisation and international researchers.
"FAO has taken the lead in providing this international collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in China. My role is to assist the government of China to develop their program to investigate animal-related aspects of the SARS epidemic," Dr Gleeson says.
"During the mission we will collate information on research to date and identify areas that require further research. We will also explore where international collaboration will assist China to quickly resolve some key issues, such as the need for diagnostic tests for animals," he says.
Since it was identified in Late February 2003, the SARS virus has infected more than 8,000 people world-wide, killed over 800 and continues to have a major impact on the global economy. The atypical pneumonia is believed to be caused by a newly identified type of coronavirus.
Dr Gleeson says a very similar virus has been isolated from civets and racoon dogs obtained from Chinese wildlife markets. However it is not clear if these animals are the 'natural host' of the virus.
"Antibodies to the SARS virus are not widespread in the human population, strongly suggesting that the virus is new to humans and that it has jumped from an animal species," he says.
"We need to know the natural host of the virus and understand if other animal species may become infected and able to transmit it so we can be prepared to prevent epidemics of SARS arising in the future," he says.
