Abstract: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (“SARS”) is a human respiratory disease of recent origin, widespread infectivity, recurring incidence, and significant mortality. Although there is abundant evidence suggesting that the coronavirus responsible for the disease (“SARS-CoV”) evolves during an outbreak, there is currently little data on the earliest strains of this coronavirus. The present invention is directed to the characterization of the genomic RNA sequences of these earliest SARS coronaviruses, to the identification of nucleotide positions within the SARS-CoV genomic RNA that are characteristic of the different evolutionary stages of the coronavirus, to kits based on these positions for use in diagnosis of the disease in patients, and for the development of vaccines to the disease based on the lowered virulence and contagiousness of these earliest strains of SARS-CoV.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards the use of the masked palm civet Paguma larvata (“civet”) as an animal model system for SARS, and is based on the novel demonstration of the present invention that civets may be infected with exogenous coronavirus, and that such infection produces SARS-like symptoms in these infected animals. The present invention is directed to a civet model system for the study of the infection, replication, and clinical effects of exogenously introduced human SARS-CoV coronavirus strains, civet SARS-CoV-like coronavirus strains, or variants or derivatives thereof, and to the development of vaccines (or other methods of prevention) or treatment of infection or transmission to other civets or humans of these human SARS-CoV coronavirus strains, civet SARS-CoV-like coronavirus strains, or variants or derivatives thereof.

Abstract: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (“SARS”) is a human respiratory disease of recent origin, widespread infectivity, recurring incidence, and significant mortality. Although there is abundant evidence suggesting that the coronavirus responsible for the disease (“SARS-CoV”) evolves during an outbreak, there is currently little data on the earliest strains of this coronavirus. The present invention is directed to the characterization of the genomic RNA sequences of these earliest SARS coronaviruses, to the identification of nucleotide positions within the SARS-CoV genomic RNA that are characteristic of the different evolutionary stages of the coronavirus, to kits based on these positions for use in diagnosis of the disease in patients, and for the development of vaccines to the disease based on the lowered virulence and contagiousness of these earliest strains of SARS-CoV.