Articles: coronavirus.
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Rev. - Off. Int. Epizoot. · Aug 2004
ReviewAnimal coronaviruses: what can they teach us about the severe acute respiratory syndrome?
In 2002, a new coronavirus (CoV) emerged in the People's Republic of China, associated with a severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and mortality in humans. The epidemic rapidly spread throughout the world before being contained in 2003, although sporadic cases occurred thereafter in Asia. The virus is thought to be of zoonotic origin from a wild animal reservoir (Himalayan palm civets [Paguma larvata] are suspected), but the definitive host is unknown. ⋯ This review focuses on the comparative pathogenesis of CoV infections, including the factors that accentuate CoV respiratory disease, with emphasis on livestock and poultry. The goal is to provide insights into CoV transmission and disease mechanisms that could potentially be applicable to SARS, highlighting the contributions of veterinary scientists to this area of study. Such examples illustrate the need for communication and collaboration between the veterinary and medical communities to understand and control emerging zoonotic diseases of the 21st Century.
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Multicenter Study
Viral shedding patterns of coronavirus in patients with probable severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is thought to be caused by a novel coronavirus, SARS-associated coronavirus. We studied viral shedding of SARS coronavirus to improve diagnosis and infection control. ⋯ Overall, peak viral loads were reached at 12-14 days of illness when patients were probably in hospital care, which would explain why hospital workers were prone to infection. Low rate of viral shedding in the first few days of illness meant that early isolation measures would probably be effective.
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Although the genome of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has been sequenced and a possible animal reservoir identified, seroprevalence studies and mass screening for detection of subclinical and non-pneumonic infections are still lacking. ⋯ Our findings support the existence of subclinical or non-pneumonic SARS-CoV infections. Such infections are more common than SARS-CoV pneumonia in our locality.
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The causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has been identified as a new type of coronavirus. Here, we have investigated the ability of adenoviral delivery of codon-optimised SARS-CoV strain Urbani structural antigens spike protein S1 fragment, membrane protein, and nucleocapsid protein to induce virus-specific broad immunity in rhesus macaques. ⋯ All vaccinated animals showed strong neutralising antibody responses to SARS-CoV infection in vitro. These results show that an adenoviral-based vaccine can induce strong SARS-CoV-specific immune responses in the monkey, and hold promise for development of a protective vaccine against the SARS causal agent.
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Emerging Infect. Dis. · Nov 2003
Coronavirus-positive nasopharyngeal aspirate as predictor for severe acute respiratory syndrome mortality.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has caused a major epidemic worldwide. A novel coronavirus is deemed to be the causative agent. ⋯ The RT-PCR-positive patients had significantly more shortness of breath, a lower lymphocyte count, and a lower lactate dehydrogenase level; they were also more likely to have bilateral and multifocal chest radiograph involvement, to be admitted to intensive care, to need mechanical ventilation, and to have higher mortality rates. By multivariate analysis, positive RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal aspirate samples was an independent predictor of death within 30 days.