Animal Origins of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus: Insight from ACE2-S-Protein Interactions

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was first described in November of 2002, when inhabitants of Guangdong province, China, presented with an influenza-like illness that began with headache, myalgia, and fever, often followed by acute atypical pneumonia, respiratory failure, and death. The novel disease was transmitted via droplets and fomites and through direct contact of patients with uninfected individuals. The outbreak spread over Asia and to Europe and North America. A total of 8,096 cases were recorded, of which 774 (9.6%) ended in death (11, 54, 72, 108, 111). The etiological agent of SARS was identified as a novel coronavirus (CoV), SARS-CoV (18, 24, 47, 50, 112). This 2002-2003 SARS-CoV epidemic strain was successfully contained by conventional public health measures by July 2003 (71, 110).