[InShanghai]

Did you notice the report that said coronavirus was not found among the patients in Guangdong?

No I didn't see that. Do you have a link?

That would be an interesting scenario. Maybe the virus did originate in Hong Kong, and the Guangdong sickness was something else? It just seems a little too coincidental...

[per loin]

Bi Shengli told the South China Morning Post that collaboration with health officials in Guangdong had revealed that the earliest SARS patients had been in close and continued contact with chickens, ducks, pigeons and owls.

The connection between SARS and fowl bolsters preliminary scientific data on the virus. Researchers have identified a coronavirus as the cause of SARS, but have yet to publish full details. However, early work suggests the virus is related to one that causes bronchitis in birds, including chickens.

"Coronaviruses can cause respiratory diseases in birds, so we might think they could do the same in people," notes Yvonne Cossart, a virologist at the University of Sydney, Australia

Bi said tests on 30 Guangdong patients did not find evidence of a coronavirus. But virologists contacted by New Scientist say coronaviruses are notoriously difficult to grow in culture, which is the main way scientists try to isolate them from patients.

link