SARS

SARS  (virus)
Interest of	• GreatGameIndia • Zhengli Shi
A corona virus first that killed at least 774 people in 2003, and has since broken out of laboratories 6 times.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was a rare viral respiratory disease, with indistinguishable symptoms to influenza. The handling and presentation of the situation showed several signs with the later handling of the 2009 Swine Flu and 2020 Covid-19 declared pandemics.

CFR and case numbers

At the end of the epidemic in June 2003, the incidence was 8,422 cases with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 11% - as compared to ordinary flu's annual toll of 3-5 million cases each year, resulting in 290,000 to 650,000 deaths. The disease was successfully contained in 2003, but further cases happened after escapes from BSL-4 labs in Asia.

Origins

The Chinese researcher, Zhong Nanshan, who “discovered the SARS virus” in 2003, was at the forefront of pronouncements about the “new coronavirus” Covid-19.

In late 2017, Chinese scientists reportedly traced the virus through the intermediary of civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Yunnan province.

Only two days after the virus was identified, virologists Christian Drosten and Stephan Günther from the German Bernhard Nocht Institute were the first to develop a diagnostic test that is now used worldwide.

Control

SARS produces flu-like symptoms and may include fever, muscle pain, lethargy, cough, sore throat, and other nonspecific symptoms. SARS is most infectious in severely ill patients, which usually occurs during the second week of the illness. This delayed infectious period meant that quarantine was highly effective; people who were isolated before day five of their illness rarely transmitted the disease to others.

Outbreaks

During November 2002 through July 2003, a total of 8,098 people worldwide became sick with severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] that was accompanied by either pneumonia or respiratory distress syndrome (probable cases), according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Of these, 774 died. By late July 2003, no new cases were being reported, and WHO declared the global outbreak to be over.

Subsequently, it has escaped from laboratories at least 6 times, once in Singapore, once in Taiwan, and four times from a single laboratory in Beijing.

 

Related Quotation

Page	Quote	Author	Date
MERS	“the method is so sensitive it can identify a single genetic molecule. If such a pathogen for example were to be found lying dormant in a nurse all day in the mucous membrane of her nose, she would be identified as a MERS case without being ill, or even being aware of it. Where previously only critically ill patients were recorded in the statistics, those with very mild symptoms and even completely healthy people were now included. This what explains the surge in cases in Saudi Arabia. This is further exacerbated by the sensational reporting of the local media.”	Christian Drosten	2014

 

Related Document

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Logistical and Technical Exploration into the Origins of the COVID-19 virus	report	31 January 2020	Jonathan Jay Couey	Report of a thorough investigation into the origins of the virus that caused the pandemic. Whilst the author is circumspect, the evidence presented points clearly to the virus being the product of laboratory engineering.

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