Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged in 2002 to 2003 in southern China. The origin of its etiological agent, the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), remains elusive. Here we report that species of bats are a natural host of coronaviruses closely related to those responsible for the SARS outbreak. These viruses, termed SARS-like coronaviruses (SL-CoVs), display greater genetic variation than SARS-CoV isolated from humans or from civets. The human and civet isolates of SARS-CoV nestle phylogenetically within the spectrum of SL-CoVs, indicating that the virus responsible for the SARS outbreak was a member of this coronavirus group.
Publication types
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Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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China / epidemiology
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Chiroptera / virology*
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Chlorocebus aethiops
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Communicable Diseases, Emerging
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Coronavirus* / classification
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Disease Outbreaks
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Disease Reservoirs*
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Genetic Variation
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Genome, Viral
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Henipavirus / classification
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Humans
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Mutation
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Phylogeny
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Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / epidemiology
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / transmission
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / virology
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus* / classification
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Vero Cells
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Viverridae / virology