Battleangel

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic that has so far killed 16 people worldwide was apparently caused by a virus and not a secondary bacterial infection as I speculated about last week. Dang. Here is what NewScientist has to report:

[the illness] belongs to the paramyxovirus family, tests on patients in Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore strongly suggest.

“Everyone will be relieved it’s not from a completely unknown taxonomic group,” says Yvonne Cossart, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Sydney, Australia. “But the antivirals we have at our disposal will not be useful against it.”

SARS is transmitted from person to person. But, as with measles, close proximity is required. Most of the victims reported to date are doctors or other medical staff.

Paramyxoviruses can infect a wide range of animals, including birds. “If they are migratory, you would be particularly worried”

Source: Virus causing deadly pneumonia revealed