Isolation and Characterization of Viruses Related to the SARS Coronavirus from Animals in Southern China

Yi Guan(Government of Hong Kong), Bingxue Zheng(Government of Hong Kong), Yuxian He(Government of Hong Kong), X. L. Liu(Government of Hong Kong), Zhen Zhuang(Government of Hong Kong), Y. M. Cheung(Government of Hong Kong), Shangshang Luo(Government of Hong Kong), Philip H. Li(Government of Hong Kong), Ling Zhang(Government of Hong Kong), Yuntao Guan(Government of Hong Kong), K. M. Butt(Government of Hong Kong), K L Wong(Government of Hong Kong), KH Chan(Government of Hong Kong), W. Lim(Government of Hong Kong), K. F. Shortridge(Government of Hong Kong), Kwok‐Yung Yuen(Government of Hong Kong), Malik Peiris(Government of Hong Kong), Leo L. M. Poon(Government of Hong Kong)
Science
September 9, 2003
Cited by 2,474Open Access
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Abstract

A novel coronavirus (SCoV) is the etiological agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). SCoV-like viruses were isolated from Himalayan palm civets found in a live-animal market in Guangdong, China. Evidence of virus infection was also detected in other animals (including a raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides) and in humans working at the same market. All the animal isolates retain a 29-nucleotide sequence that is not found in most human isolates. The detection of SCoV-like viruses in small, live wild mammals in a retail market indicates a route of interspecies transmission, although the natural reservoir is not known.


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