Virus isolation

The presence of the infectious virus can be detected by inoculating suitable cell cultures (e.g., Vero cells) with patient specimens (such as respiratory secretions, blood or stool) and propagating the virus in vitro. Once isolated, the virus must be identified as SARS-CoV using further tests. Cell culture is a very demanding test, but currently (with the exception of animal trials) the only means to show the existence of a live virus. It has to be performed under at least biosafety safety level (BSL) 3 conditions (see below). Positive cell culture results indicate the presence of live SARS-CoV in the sample tested. Negative cell culture results do not exclude SARS (see negative PCR test result).