SARS source still uncertain

[Mary Finelli]

SARS may return
Global conference sets agenda for research to control future outbreaks
The Scientist, Robert Walgate, June 18, 2003


For reintroduction of the disease, "The most likely scenario is an animal 
source, [as happens in] Lassa fever and Ebola," said Ryan. The observation 
of the virus, or a closely related form, in palm-faced civet cats and a 
raccoon dog, does not constitute identification of the source, according to 
Ryan. "We don't understand the natural ecology of this disease, the range of 
the animal and the dynamics of the population," he said. "And the virus 
changes—there's a lot to be understood about that." Once the animal source 
was better understood, surveillance systems would have to be put in place as 
close as possible to the ecological niche, said Ryan.

Full article at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030618/02

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