By Dr. Hwa A. Lim, Ph.D., MBA, MA [USA], B. Sc. (Hons.), ARCS [UK]
In the wake of all the hoopla about SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), there were more than enough news, books and merchandize to overwhelm the average individual, blurring the lines that separate facts from rumors, science from myth, and reality from hype.
Drowned in all the information and misinformation overflow, most people, if not all, fail to relate the role information technology (IT), and in particular bioinformatics (BITS), plays in the identification of SARS virus and the various mutants, and a potential cure for SARS. Even fewer people managed to look beyond the narrow scope to see the ramifications of the recent SARS outbreak.
Race to Sequence SARS Genome
Patient Zero of the recent SARS rampage is a point of contention. There have been more than enough rumors out there to confuse the average people: some claim SARS to be a bioweapon intentionally released to cause havoc; some claim SARS to be a bioweapon accidentally released from a weapon laboratory; some claim the first SARS patients were in the U.S.…
Nevertheless, the SARS rampage was at one point a public health issue threatening most of the Asian Pacific Rim countries: China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and Taiwan included. Aided by globalization and the ease of air travel today, the disease was reported in many other countries, such as Canada, the U.S. and some parts of Europe, with a large number of infections and a significant number of deaths. By May 2003, SARS had spread to 28 countries, infecting more than 7,000 people, and killing more than 500. Of these, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan account for 92.0% of all SARS cases, and 89% of the deaths.
On March 12, 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a global alert on the outbreak of the epidemic – a new form of pneumonia-like disease with symptoms that are similar to those of the common flu. This illness is potentially fatal and highly contagious, and had spread quickly to many parts of the world in a matter of a few weeks.