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Scientists find illness { March 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10357-2003Mar22.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10357-2003Mar22.html Scientists Find Mystery Illness Virus By EMMA ROSS The Associated Press Saturday, March 22, 2003; 1:47 PM Scientists believe they have found the virus responsible for the mystery illness that has sickened hundreds of people worldwide and are perfecting a test to diagnose it, the World Health Organization announced Saturday. The advances, by the University of Hong Kong, are considered an important step in slowing the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and bring scientists closer to determining how best to treat it. The progress comes less than a week after the World Health Organization pulled together the talent from 11 laboratories around the world in an unprecedented collaboration to hunt down the disease. "We can be relatively sure that we have now found the causative agent," said Dr. Klaus Stohr, a WHO virologist who is coordinating the global laboratory network. "We know what it is it. It is the SARS virus. But, to which virus family it belongs, we don't know yet," he added. Some researchers believe it is a new type of paramyxovirus, but studies from other labs suggest it may belong to another virus family. The virus, isolated from the lung tissue of a patient who died from SARS, is the basis for the diagnostic test, which Stohr said could be available to labs by the end of next week and in the hands of hospital doctors shortly afterward. The test would make it possible for doctors to quickly weed out and isolate patients with the new disease. The development of the diagnostic test was announced Friday, but experts were cautious because the results had not been confirmed by further experiments. By Saturday its accuracy had been verified in eight more patients and more details were released. "The consistency of these findings indicates that the test is reliably identifying cases of SARS infection," the WHO said. SARS has made 386 people around the world ill and killed 11 people in the past three weeks, according to WHO figures. Experts suspect it is linked to an earlier outbreak of an unidentified disease in China, where officials say 305 people have fallen ill and five have died. Hong Kong remains the most seriously affected area, with more than half the total cases. Vietnam and Singapore have also been hit hard. The United States has reported 22 suspected cases, according to the latest WHO figures. The State Department on Saturday warned Americans not to travel to Vietnam, one of the first countries affected. In Hong Kong, three grade schools with sick students were closed for disinfection. Singapore, meanwhile, said it would empty one of its main hospitals and dedicate it to coping with the disease. "This spectacular achievement is an example of what the world can do when the intellectual resources of nations around the world are focused on a single problem," Stohr said. "This rapid advance is fueling the hope that SARS can and will be contained." --- On the Net: CDC info: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/ World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/en/ © 2003 The Associated Press

Death 1 in 7 { April 26 2003 } Death rate 1 in 5 { May 6 2003 } Experimental monkey zero in cause { April 16 2003 } Experts say sars comback winter Infected without becoming ill { May 27 2003 } Links sars common cold { April 17 2003 } Masks not enough { August 4 2003 } Masks not protective Sars can live common surfaces { May 4 2003 } Sars casued coronavirus { April 4 2003 } Sars could be back winter Sars deadlier aids Sars death preventable Sars found in sweat raises handshake fears Sars from mars { May 23 2003 } Sars long lived virus { May 5 2003 } Sars mutating rapidly { April 22 2003 } Sars related common cold { April 18 2003 } Sars travel meat market { April 27 2003 } Scientists find illness { March 22 2003 } Stays live 15 days { June 3 2003 } Super spreader survivor scapegoat { April 23 2003 } Superspreader of sars { May 29 2003 } Top physicians warn congress { May 22 2003 } Who death rate 15 perc { May 8 2003 } Files Listed: 25

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