Content
Media Release
Description: Australian Quest for SARS Test Underway |
Type: Ministerial Media Release |
Australian Quest for SARS Test Underway
Two teams of Australian researchers are working to develop a fast and reliable test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that can reliably distinguish SARS from other diseases with influenza like symptoms.
The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, has announced that the teams, led by researchers from the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory and the Westmead Millenium Research Institute in Sydney, will work on the task with special funding provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
"Teams led by Dr Michael Catton in Victoria and Dr Bin Wang in Sydney will use different methodologies to develop a quick and reliable test to distinguish between SARS and other viral diseases with 'flu-like symptoms' and deliver their findings in three months time," Senator Patterson said.
Dr Catton's team will use well established techniques to develop a test for SARS. Their work will complement international efforts but tailor them to Australian requirements. Dr Wang's project will adapt a novel and innovative molecular technique to detect the SARS virus in the early stages of infection. If successful this technique could be a world-first for Australia.
The two approaches complement each other in developing the all important diagnostic tests for this deadly disease.
Dr Catton's team will work with the live virus contained in one of the most secure biosafety laboratories in the country. His group will also collaborate with other laboratories across Australia which will use non-infectious material. Dr Wang's team will complete the methodological development in Australia and field-test the diagnostic test in China using patient material from clinical cases of SARS.
"I am pleased that dedicated Australian researchers will soon develop fast and reliable tests for the benefit of Australians and the world," Senator Patterson said.
More details about the two projects are attached.
Attachment
Development of national protocols for the detection of SARS human coronavirus
Dr Michael Catton
Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory
This work aims to develop and to establish the accuracy of laboratory tests for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) suitable for use and for production in Australia. Accurate and timely laboratory testing will be important in detecting imported SARS cases, and preventing establishment of the disease in Australia. SARS is a severe, readily transmissible chest infection that first appeared in Southern China in November 2002. It has subsequently spread to 29 countries causing a total of 7747 cases and 552 deaths by mid May 2003. The greatest impact has been in China, with Canada the most severely affected country outside Asia. Approximately 15 percent of cases are fatal overall, with death rates increasing with age up to 50 percent over 65 years.
There is, as yet, no specific cure or vaccine. The cause is a previously unknown coronavirus, a close relative of human common cold viruses. It spreads readily via contact with respiratory secretions, coughing and sneezing, and possibly in faeces. The virus is able to persist in the environment for days. An international network of WHO laboratories has made rapid progress in developing laboratory tests. Although this expertise will assist Australia in developing its own laboratory capability, Australia's laboratory test needs cannot be met from overseas.
SARS laboratory tests and protocols will be developed in Australia over a 3-month period by a consortium of expert Australian laboratories. These include the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory, the Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research at Westmead Hospital, CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory, the Cooperative Research Centre for Diagnostics, and the Western Australian Centre for Pathology and Medical Research.
Tests will include methods for detection of the SARS virus in specimens, and detection of antibodies to SARS in the blood. Production of some key reagents by genetic engineering techniques is intended to improve their availability. Robustness of test methods in a diagnostic laboratory setting will be evaluated, and a quality assurance program will be implemented. An expert advisory group will assist in the development of test performance and interpretation protocols.
Development of a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective technology for the diagnosis of SARS using rolling circle amplification
Dr Bin Wang
Westmead Millenium Research Institute, NSW
This project will develop two molecular diagnostic methods to detect the SARS virus. One will be based on a commonly used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology for viruses and the other will be based on a newly RNA amplification method, rolling chain amplification (RCA). Using RCA will provide a sensitive, contamination-free and reliable test during early stages of SARS virus infection that is not currently available.
It is important to study the viral evolution and mutations by monitoring changes occurring in the virus. These changes are critical in defining the origin of the virus, its movements, and predicting changing patterns in pathogenesis of particular viral strains. As these analyses involve a variety of primary strains of SARS from patients, the issue of viral variability in relation to diagnosis can be addressed well through the proposed study. Together, these data may prove to be useful in future vaccine development, as has been evident from a number of flu viruses. Viral load during the course of disease will be used to predict disease prognosis and also to identify super-spreaders as they may carry large amount of virus but have less severe clinical symptoms. This project will be a milestone in molecular diagnosis, not only for the SARS virus, but also to other viral diseases such as HIV.