Cattle car syndrome offers SARS insights

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http://www.enn.com/news/2003-05-20/s_4506.asp

 

" Cattle car syndrome " offers SARS insights

 

20 May 2003

By Maggie Fox, Reuters

 

NEW YORK — Packed into cattle cars, young animals

destined to be fattened up in feedlots get a disease

called shipping fever. They develop cough and

pneumonia and drip mucus from their eyes and noses.

It is caused by a coronavirus, the same class of

viruses as the SARS virus, and the symptoms resemble

those of SARS.

 

The conditions that can bring about shipping fever are

similar to those affecting the travelers who spread

SARS around the world, said Linda Saif, a professor of

food animal health at Ohio State University.

 

Saif is one of a handful of experts on coronaviruses

whose once-obscure field is now the center of

attention in laboratories around the world, including

the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention, universities, and

private companies seeking to market treatments,

vaccines, and diagnostic tests for SARS.

 

Two human coronaviruses cause about 30 percent of

common colds, but the viruses cause more significant

diseases in pigs, chickens, and other livestock.

 

" There is a stress factor when animals are shipped

long distances from farm to large feedlot, " Saif told

a weekend meeting of experts at the New York Academy

of Sciences. " We are seeing SARS cases in patients

that have traveled recently. "

 

As any traveler can testify, these stresses include

being away from home, being close to other strangers,

and moving across time zones as well as rushing to

catch flights.

 

Severe acute respiratory syndrome has killed 642

people and infected 7,860 across the world.

 

No one understands why SARS makes some people sicker

than others and why some people seem to be more prone

to spread it to others. It could come down to stress

or to infection with something along with SARS, such

as flu or hepatitis.

 

Air travel throws large numbers of people together in

small spaces, on aircraft and in airports. " When

animals arrive at the feedlot they are commingled

together, " Saif said. " When animals arrive from other

locations and commingle, you see disease outbreaks. "

 

Saif said co-infection with other bugs is also known

to worsen coronavirus infection in farm animals.

 

UNIQUE VIRUS MAKES SOURCE HARD TO FIND

 

Experts who examined the genetic map of the SARS virus

say while it is related to the three families of

coronaviruses that cause respiratory and

gastrointestinal disease in animals, it is different

enough to make up its own, fourth family.

 

It may have jumped from an animal to people, much as

influenza does. " It is possible that maybe this was a

human virus that no one recognized because it didn't

cause disease and then it mutated, " Saif said.

 

Attention has centered on farm animals because they

have been widely studied, but experts at the

conference said that did not necessarily mean SARS

came from livestock.

 

" There are a lot of wildlife species out there that

probably a lot of people haven't looked in, " Thomas

Ksiaszek of the CDC's Special Pathogens Branch told

the New York meeting. " If I had to throw my two cents

in, that would be my bet. "

 

Some attention has centered on the " wet " markets of

China's Guangdong Province, where SARS is believed to

have originated in November 2002. Animals such as

bears, monkeys, and the endangered pangolin are sold

in these markets for food.

 

Other studies suggest it may be difficult to fully

control SARS in China and other hard-hit areas because

people who have recovered from SARS may not have

immunity.

 

Source: Reuters

 

 

 

 

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