[Isolation and identification of SARS virus in Guangdong province].

Yan, Xin-ge; Wan, Zhou-yue; Zhang, Xin; Zheng, Qiu-xia; Zheng, Kui; Huang, Ji-cheng; Huang, Ping; Lu, Jia-hai

BACKGROUND To isolate and identify pathogen of atypical pneumonia in Guangdong. METHODS Pathogens were isolated from variety of samples collected from atypical pneumonia patient by using MDCK cells, and identified with serological and molecular methods. RESULTS A novel coronavirus was isolated from patients with atypical pneumonia, from which an RNA fragment of 279 nt was amplified by nested RT-PCR. And sequence assay showed that only 39-65 percent of sequence of the virus was homogenous to known coronavirus, but almost 100% homogenous (with one base exception, 12a to t) to SARS-associated coronavirus isolated from patients outside Guangdong, such as in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Italy and so on. Indirect immunofluorescence test showed a specific antigen-antibody reactivity between the coronavirus and convalescent-phase sera of SARS patients. CONCLUSION The pathogen of the atypical pneumonia in Guangdong province was a novel type of coronavirus, which could be isolated by using MDCK cells.