Important+Members

=Important Members=

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) [[image:usfcoronaviridaequickery/SARS.jpg width="166" height="194" align="right" caption="SARS under electron microscope"]]

 * Order **Nidovirales**
 * Family **Coronaviridae**
 * Subfamily **Coronavirinae**
 * Genus **Betacoronavirus**
 * broke out in late winter and spring of 2003
 * Mainly in China and Singapore
 * The most common sympton is a fever above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (94%), which is usually accompanied by headache, general malaise and aches. In fact, respiratory symptoms are initially usually mild but after a few days (or a week), the patient may develop a dry non-productive cough and breathing may become difficult (dyspnea). Respiratory distress leads to death in 3-30% of cases.
 * Gastrointestinal symptoms are less common at presentation, including diarrhoea (27%), vomiting (14%), and abdominal pain (13%).



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 * The mean incubation period of SARS is estimated to be 6·4 days.
 * Laboratory tests show a reduction in lymphocyte numbers and a rise in aminotransferase activity which indicates damage to the liver
 * The estimated case fatality rate is 13·2% for patients younger than 60 years and 43·3% for patients aged 60 years or older.
 * In September 2005, Lau et al published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science pointing out that the horseshoe bat may be the actual natural reservoir of SARS-CoV rather than the previously implicated civet cat. [|Click here]to read the original article.



Interesting Fact

 * March 23, 2003: Carlos Urbani dies-** Carlos Urbani, the first to identify SARS-CoV in Vietnam, died of SARS. It is believed that his swift actions in response to his identification led to heightenend global awareness that saved many lives.

([|source]), ([|source]), ([|source]) __Sources__- Bloom, David C. //et al//. (2008). Third Edition. //Basic Virology//. Blackwell Publishing.

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