gms | German Medical Science

International Conference on SARS - one year after the (first) outbreak

08. - 11.05.2004, Lübeck

Investigation of rodent infestation and the SARS-CoV genes in rats around living environment of initial SARS case in 2004

Talk

  • corresponding author presenting/speaker Lifeng Lin - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Yinhua Duan - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Jianrong Yi - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Jun Wu - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Fuqian Pei - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Songwu Cai - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Weixiong Ying - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou
  • Wencheng Lu - Center of Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou

International Conference on SARS - one year after the (first) outbreak. Lübeck, 08.-11.05.2004. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2004. Doc04sars05.02

Die elektronische Version dieses Artikels ist vollständig und ist verfügbar unter: http://www.egms.de/de/meetings/sars2004/04sars023.shtml

Veröffentlicht: 26. Mai 2004

© 2004 Lin et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open Access-Artikel und steht unter den Creative Commons Lizenzbedingungen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.de). Er darf vervielfältigt, verbreitet und öffentlich zugänglich gemacht werden, vorausgesetzt dass Autor und Quelle genannt werden.


Gliederung

Text

Objective: In the initial SARS case living environment in 2004, to investigate the rodents infestation and SARS-CoV special genes in rats, and to explore the possible of rodent as vector or the origin of SARS.

Since some scientists think that rodent may play an important role in SARS transmission, we had immediately gone to investigate the rodent infestation and to catch rats around the patient's living environment, when receiving the report of initial SARS suspect case found in LIJIANG Garden, south of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, which had been confirmed the initial SARS cases in the world in 2004.

Method: Rats infestation had been investigated by visual observation of rat signs, such as dropping, tracks, runs or burrows, and rub marks, and by rat trap approach during December 26th to 30th, 2003.

The remnants of SARS-Cov were detected in lung tissue and anus swab samples of rats caught in LIJIANG Garden by a nested RT-PCR using two pair primers recommended by WHO and China CDC. The amplification product of the RT-PCR and nested PCR are 195bp and 110bp by using first primer, 341bp and 279bp by using second primer respectively.

Result:

1. There was serious rats infestation around the patient's living environment. In or around the target building, totally 13 rooms with rat signs positive were found in 50 rooms, such as electric machine room, cable rooms, and small restaurants, etc. 62 rat signs were found in the length of accumulative 2000m investigated environment around the target building.

2. Totally 15 rodents and 24 Suncus murinus were caught in 190 rat traps placed in LIJIANG Garden. Among the 15 rodents which belong to three species, there were 6 Rattus norvegicus, 8 Rattus rattus, and 1 Mus musculus.

3. In total, 39 lung tissues and 39 anus swab samples were molecularly analyzed by nested PT-PCR approach by using the two pairs of primers. We found 3/6 positive lung tissue samples of Rattus rattus, and 1/6 positive anus swab sample of Rattus rattus. We were unable to detect any genetic material of SARS CoV in other 33 samples of Rattus norvegicus, Mus musculus and Suncus murinus.

Conclusion: In the environment of initial SARS case in 2004, serious rat infestation as well as PCR-positive lung tissue and anus swab samples of rats support the theory of rat as vector or original of SARS, but further epidemiological and viral studies should be done. The positive tissue of rats should be assayed for viral presence by culture and PCR.