Sunday, August 24, 2003
THE SARS-ASSOCIATED CORONAVIRUS HAS
BEEN FOUND IN A WIDE RANGE
OF ANIMALS IN CHINA
But are pigs the most threatening reservoir?
According to Straits Times, a recent investigation into the presence of SARS-associated coronavirus has found the virus in many different animals. It is unclear which animals are transmitting the virus to people. According to the report, "A Sars-like virus has been found in a broad range of animals, ranging from snakes and birds to mammals, a medical group said yesterday after returning from the epicentre of the virus in south China. The 14 United Nations and Chinese experts visited farms and markets in Guangdong province in search of a possible animal carrier of the virus, and were astounded to see how many different species were capable of infection."
Although the report did not mention pigs, a previous study had found the virus in wild pigs that were sold at a market in Guandong Province in China. Research we have mentioned before on this blog indicates that coronaviruses go back and forther between people and pigs quite easily. The coronavirus strain mentioned in the study, OC43, was recently found in patients who were thought to have SARS in a nursing home in British Columbia, Canada. There is ongoing confusion about whether the victims of a respiratory disease epidemic there are suffering from OC43 or the so-called SARS-associated coronavirus. On the Silicon Investor website, Henry Niman, a Harvard professor who has been following the virology of SARS epidemic very closely, expressed the concern that the SARS-associated coronavirus may have recombined with OC43. If that does turn out to be the case, studies showing the ease with which OC43 goes back and forth between pigs and people may become even more relevant.
BEEN FOUND IN A WIDE RANGE
OF ANIMALS IN CHINA
But are pigs the most threatening reservoir?
According to Straits Times, a recent investigation into the presence of SARS-associated coronavirus has found the virus in many different animals. It is unclear which animals are transmitting the virus to people. According to the report, "A Sars-like virus has been found in a broad range of animals, ranging from snakes and birds to mammals, a medical group said yesterday after returning from the epicentre of the virus in south China. The 14 United Nations and Chinese experts visited farms and markets in Guangdong province in search of a possible animal carrier of the virus, and were astounded to see how many different species were capable of infection."
Although the report did not mention pigs, a previous study had found the virus in wild pigs that were sold at a market in Guandong Province in China. Research we have mentioned before on this blog indicates that coronaviruses go back and forther between people and pigs quite easily. The coronavirus strain mentioned in the study, OC43, was recently found in patients who were thought to have SARS in a nursing home in British Columbia, Canada. There is ongoing confusion about whether the victims of a respiratory disease epidemic there are suffering from OC43 or the so-called SARS-associated coronavirus. On the Silicon Investor website, Henry Niman, a Harvard professor who has been following the virology of SARS epidemic very closely, expressed the concern that the SARS-associated coronavirus may have recombined with OC43. If that does turn out to be the case, studies showing the ease with which OC43 goes back and forth between pigs and people may become even more relevant.
