The consortium's research, which genetically fingerprinted virus samples from several dozen infected people and animals from China and Hong Kong, is being published in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome emerged in southern China in late 2002. It sickened more than 8,000 people worldwide, killing nearly 800, before subsiding last June.
Civet cats, mongoose-like animals that are sold in live food markets in southern China, are the top suspects for first spreading the disease to people.
Source: http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hssars0129,0,711580.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
[Editor: The preceding article was not written by A4M/WHN]
