Highlights

Impact on China
• China is hardest hit by SARS, with 5000 cases, almost half in Beijing.
• China has devoted a science and technology task group to work on SARS epidemiology, diagnostics, treatment, disease mechanism, biosafety and infection control, and education.

Task-Force Activities
• Modeling and predicting the trajectory of the epidemic.
• Screening possible drugs and vaccines, including some from traditional Chinese medicines.
• Screening humanized monoclonal antibodies.
• Looking into antisense oligonucleotides or RNA interference.
• Determining host susceptibility issues.
• Building collaborative scientific relationships and sharing resources.