Discovery of the SARS Virus

Chapter 2: Virology

Wolfgang Preiser, Christian Drosten

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is due to an infection with a novel coronavirus which was first identified by researchers in Hong Kong, the United States, and Germany (Ksiazek, Drosten, Peiris 2003a, Poutanen). The virus was provisionally termed SARSassociated coronavirus (SARS-CoV).