X-Message-Number: 21429 From: Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:44:18 EST Subject: Killer virus identified --part1_108.20c4443a.2baa3eb2_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Killer virus identified ----------------------- A team from the Prince of Wales Hospital and Chinese University of Hong Kong have identified the virus that has caused the recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome worldwide, confirming that the current anti-viral treatment applied to patients has been the right choice. Identifying the virus as a member of the Paramyxoviridae family, Professor John Tam of the department of microbiology of the Chinese University said it was detected by electron microscopy. The finding, announced late last night, was further confirmed by a molecular technique that revealed the nucleic acid sequence of the virus. Asked if the virus was curable, Tam reiterated that the finding last night had indicated that the current treatment applied to patients suffering from the syndrome, more commonly known as atypical pneumonia, had been the right choice. But he added that they still needed to monitor individual patients' reactions before they could conclude that the virus was curable. Lo Wing-lok, Medical Association president and legislator, said the Paramyxoviridae family incorporated different viruses that could affect humans and, as such, further studies were needed to establish whether it was a new virus. Earlier it was revealed that at least 6 patients were responsible for spreading the pneumonia in Hong Kong. Health chief Yeoh Eng-kiong also said that a mainland professor who died in [Hong Kong] SAR on 4 Mar 2003 was a victim of the atypical pneumonia. The new information from officials indicated the disease had been more widespread in the SAR than originally believed. Yeoh said the pneumonia and suspected cases had now been isolated into 6 "clusters". Yeoh again stressed the government was not hiding anything. He insisted there was no sign of an outbreak at the community level. [byline: Matthew Lee and Georgina Lee] --part1_108.20c4443a.2baa3eb2_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21429