Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was the first pandemic transmissible disease of previously unknown aetiology in the twenty-first century. Early epidemiologic investigations suggested an animal origin for SARS-CoV. Virological and serological studies indicated that masked palm civets ( Paguma larvata ), together with two other wildlife animals, sampled from a live animal market were infected with SARS-CoV or a closely related virus. Recently, horseshoe bats in the genus Rhinolophus have been identified as natural reservoir of SARS-like coronaviruses. Here, we review studies by different groups demonstrating that SARS-CoV succeeded in spillover from a wildlife reservoir (probably bats) to human population via an intermediate host(s) and that rapid virus evolution played a key role in the adaptation of SARS-CoVs in at least two nonreservoir species within a short period.
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Keywords
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
- Nipah Virus
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Patient
- Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Outbreak
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Wang, L.F., Eaton, B.T. (2007). Bats, Civets and the Emergence of SARS. In: Childs, J.E., Mackenzie, J.S., Richt, J.A. (eds) Wildlife and Emerging Zoonotic Diseases: The Biology, Circumstances and Consequences of Cross-Species Transmission. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 315. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-70962-6_13
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