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

;
• Zheng, B. J.
;
• He, Y. Q.
;
• Liu, X. L.
;
• Zhuang, Z. X.
;
• Cheung, C. L.
;
• Luo, S. W.
;
• Li, P. H.
;
• Zhang, L. J.
;
• Guan, Y. J.
;
• Butt, K. M.
;
• Wong, K. L.
;
• Chan, K. W.
;
• Lim, W.
;
• Shortridge, K. F.
;
• Yuen, K. Y.
;
• Peiris, J. S. M.
;
• Poon, L. L. M.

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.