Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has recently emerged as a new human disease, resulting globally in 435 deaths from 6,234 probable cases (as of 3 May 2003). Here we provide proof from experimental infection of cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) that the newly discovered SARS-associated corona-virus (SCV) is the aetiological agent of this disease. Our understanding of the aetiology of SARS will expedite the development of diagnostic tests, antiviral therapies and vaccines, and may allow a more concise case definition for this emerging disease. According to Koch's postulates, as modified by Rivers for viral diseases, six criteria are required to establish a virus as the cause of a disease. The first three criteria―isolation of virus from diseased hosts, cultivation in host cells, and proof of filterability―have been met for SCV by several groups. Moreover, of 96 individuals complying with the World Health Organization's definition of SARS in Hong Kong, 86 (90%) yielded laboratory evidence of SCV infection.
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