SARS,possible zoonosis in the area of conflict of pathogenic coronaviruses of animals

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging disease, which was first recognized in Guangdong Province, China, in November 2002. In the meantime, SARS has been recognized in patients on all five continents. A novel coronavirus, which is not related to the hitherto known coronaviruses, has been proven to be associated with the disease. Our genomic analyses strongly suggest that the new SARS-coronavirus did not emerge through mutation or recombination and that it has probably been transmitted from a so far not identified animal species to humans. Therefore, it is most likely that SARS virus is a zoonotic agent. A broad body of knowledge originating from research in veterinary medicine indicates that development of vaccines against the SARS-coronavirus may be problematic. The potential danger of such vaccines should not be neglected during the process of vaccine development.