SARS Storm Spurs Surprising Strategies
Last winter’s outbreak of SARS—severe acute respiratory syndrome—triggered an unprecedented emergency medical response worldwide. Researchers put aside scientific rivalries and within weeks not only discovered the coronavirus that was responsible but also mapped the virus’s genomic sequence. After the outbreak had been contained, writer Barry Yeoman asked top medical scientists to reflect on the long-term lessons of the crisis.
Malik Peiris, microbiologist, University of Hong Kong, member of the team that identified the SARS coronavirus: In the 1960s, many believed that infectious disease had been conquered, but that has been proven wrong yet again. Today the scale of the threat is more global. Jet travel has increased exponentially, so somebody can pick up the infection here in Hong Kong and be in Singapore or Toronto in a few hours’ time. You hear about the globalization of economy; this is the globalization of disease.
Jessie Gruman, social psychologist and president, Center for the Advancement of Health, Washington, D.C.: There was real reluctance on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to do research until they were sure that it would be worthwhile financially. The government brought together all the big companies and said, “Please, please, work on this,” and they walked away. Eventually, some took a chance and did the development work. That’s not to say the market is a bad thing. It’s just that this is the kind of place where the market falls short, and then people die in the meantime.
Sanjay Kapil, coronavirus expert, Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, Manhattan, Kansas: We have learned that it is not a good idea to come into contact with wildlife. SARS came from eating exotic meat, specifically the civet cat. Monkeypox was imported with Gambian giant rats and dormice. Viruses do not appear out of the blue: They have been evolving for millions of years in strange niches. When you are exposed under circumstances that work for a specific virus, the species jump happens.
