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(meteorobs) Is SARS -possibly from outer space?
Well, as one virologist points out in the following article, SARS is
probably not space borne but the topic is always interesting.
Tom A
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http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/05/23/sars.fromspace/index.html
Is SARS from outer space?
By Lauren Compton
CNN
Friday, May 23, 2003 Posted: 1:21 PM EDT (1721 GMT)
Some scientists think comets have seeded the solar system with organic
material.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The SARS virus might have originated in outer
space, according to a scientist in Britain.
In a letter to The Lancet medical journal, professor Chandra Wickramasinghe
of Cardiff University suggests the virus was introduced to Earth on a comet
or meteorite.
Comets are known to contain many organic chemicals as well as water.
But international scientists are still undecided about research from 1996
purporting to show ancient bacterial forms in a meteorite from Mars.
The professor and his team estimate a tonne of bacterial material falls to
Earth from space each day.
To support his theory, the professor highlights the unique nature and
sudden appearance of SARS in China.
He points to other mysterious modern epidemics like the Plague of Athens
and the influenza pandemic of 1917-19 as also originating from the skies.
If the claim is true, travel alerts in China and Canada at the height of
the SARS epidemic might not have been enough to stop the virus spreading.
Indeed, the professor warns it could still be circulating in the
atmosphere, set to fall anywhere on Earth without warning.
"We should remain vigilant for the appearance of new foci (unconnected with
infective contacts or with China) almost anywhere on the planet.
"New cases might continue to appear until the stratospheric supply of the
caustic agent becomes exhausted," he said.
However, Professor Wickramasinghe admits there is no hard evidence for his
theory, which has been ridiculed by some of his contemporaries.
"I think it is completely nuts," Dr. Anne Bridgen, a molecular virologist
at the University of Ulster, told Reuters news agency.
"It has a lipid (fatty) coat on the outside and it would tend to dry out in
an atmosphere such as space."
Professor Ian Jones, an expert in virology at the University of Reading in
southern England, described the idea as bizarre.
And a spokesman for the World Health Organization told CNN though
theoretically possible, there was no evidence to support such a claim.
"I find it hard to believe that it came from outer space. We won't be
sending a WHO team to investigate."
Meanwhile, researchers in Hong Kong say they might have traced the SARS to
civet cats, a delicacy eaten by some Chinese.
The claim came after a month-long investigation by Hong Kong and Chinese
scientists tracking the source of the disease.
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