Bio-weapons theory over SARS grows

TWO nearly identical sequences of the SARS virus genetic structure have been reviewed and authenticated by experts.

The news comes as speculation claims the virus is the product of a bio-weapons programme.

Although most reporting favours a natural origin for SARS, a bio-weapon link should at least not be ruled out, according to Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

"While there is no reported evidence that SARS is indeed a weapon, there are plenty of ways that a real weapon with the properties of SARS could prove decisive in a military conflict," he said.

The publication of the virus genome, which is being rushed into print by Science journal, should help researchers find drugs to treat the deadly respiratory illness and to develop a vaccine to prevent the infection. Science is one of the world's leading scientific journals.

A team of Canadians first sequenced a strain of the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, using specimens taken from a patient in Toronto, journal officials said.

Another form of the virus, called the Urbani strain, was sequenced shortly afterward by a US-led team.

The Urbani strain was earlier linked to a lung disease by several Dutch researchers.

The sequences were posted on the internet on April 15, but are only now being peer-reviewed, a scientific step that lends credence to the accuracy of the work.

"Both research teams produced these genomic sequences quickly and efficiently, in a model of cooperation among various groups," said Don Kennedy, editor in chief of Science.

Because this information is crucial to the public health, Science is making it immediately available following an important and promptly conducted peer review."

Experts said the authenticated gene sequences will enable researchers to more quickly develop diagnostic tests and vaccines to combat the rapidly spreading, highly contagious respiratory disease.

Meanwhile the SARS crisis cast a pall over China's May Day celebrations, normally one of the biggest holidays of the year, as the global death toll rose with the announcement of more dead in China and Hong Kong.

At the same time, scientists met in Canada to discuss how to battle the disease that has now killed 393 worldwide and infected nearly 6,000.

The festivities were dampened further with the announcement of 11 more deaths in China and 187 more confirmed detections.

The news was less grave from Hong Kong, where five people died after contracting SARS and 11 new cases were confirmed, suggesting that new infections were on the decline.

China now has reported 170 deaths from SARS and 3,460 cases, including 82 deaths in Beijing and 1,553 cases. Hong Kong has reported 162 deaths and 1,600 cases.

In other developments in China, the authorities stepped up the battle against SARS in some of the more remote regions of the vast country of 1.3 billion people.

Tibet was virtually cut-off yesterday as China sent a fifth SARS prevention and supervision team to help local authorities prepare for the possible onset of SARS in an area which is one of the few places in China reporting no cases. Chinese tourism officials imposed a ban earlier this week on tour groups visiting the so-called "Roof of the World" for an indefinite period.

The Tibet Information Network said that since Sunday all international flights into and out of the region had been halted and that border-crossing points were completely sealed.

In the northern autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, where nine SARS deaths have been reported and 127 cases, the authorities have begun construction of a new 1,000-bed hospital in the regional capital Hohhot.

Health experts from Canada, the United States and Hong Kong met for a second day in the Canadian city of Toronto, meanwhile, to discuss efforts to combat the respiratory illness.

The outbreak first appeared in China in November and has since spread around the world.