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| WHO: SARS virus relatively stable but more dangerous than expected |
| CCTV.COM 2003-05-10 16:05:34 |
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The World Health Organization warned on Friday that the SARS virus was still spreading despite increased efforts to stop it. As the world medical experts strive to find the genome of the SARS virus, latest discoveries show that very little mutation of virus has been found and it still poses a big threat to humankind.
The first major study of the genome of the SARS virus shows that it has not mutated significantly in its spread to different countries. The findings are encouraging because, if the virus remains stable, chances are increased that a vaccine might be developed.
However, experts say the findings also mean that SARS has not weakened as it has passed through successive generations. Medical experts suggest that because the virus has changed little in its first few months, it seems unlikely to mutate into a milder form because if a new virus is going to evolve into a more benign form, it normally does so in the early months of an outbreak.
WHO officials say the calculation indicates that the disease is more dangerous than experts had thought. Earlier, scientists had expected that with the infected numbers continuing to rise, the SARS virus would show some mutation during which process, the transmission capability and damaging effect would be lessened.
David Heymann, head of the WHO's communicable disease program, says that the SARS virus has been very adaptive to humans, and the spread of the disease is continuing.
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Editor: Xiao Wei CCTV.com
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