Article-SARS could be Chinese Bio-weapon: Russian Expert

SARS could be Chinese bio-weapon: Russian expert

[ FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2003 09:55:27 PM ]

MOSCOW: A top Russian medical expert has said that the deadly virus, which causes atypical pneumonia or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) could be a biological weapon developed by China.

According to the member of Russian Medical Sciences Academy, Professor Sergei Kolesnikov, SARS virus is a hybrid of two viruses, which can only be produced in laboratory conditions, TVS network reported.

Speaking at conference in Siberian city of Irkutsk Pro Kolesnikov, also a member of Russian Duma, noted that SARS outbreak took place in two southern districts of China and for a long time Chinese authorities kept mum about it.

Kolesnikov also noted that the severe toxic nature and the speed with which SARS is spreading also permits to draw inference that it is a man-made biological weapon.

"If it is true then its antidote should be looked where it originated," Kolesnikov was quoted as saying the television.

In a parallel development after receiving genetic foot prints of the killer virus from Germany, St Petersburg-based Russian Flu Research Institute has already synthesised it in the search for a vaccine.

So far, Russia has not registered confirmed cases of atypical pneumonia in the country, however, strict medical control has been introduced on all the airports.

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