Molecular Epidemiology of SARS — From Amoy Gardens to Taiwan

Abstract

To the Editor: The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Taiwan described by Hsieh (Aug. 14 issue)1 grew rapidly from mid-April 2003. We note the chronologic relation between this rapid wave of infections and the visit of a resident of Amoy Gardens, Hong Kong, to Taiwan on March 26.2 He rode the train with a female passenger who was linked to a series of local cases. We recently sequenced the complete genome of the SARS coronavirus associated with the outbreak in Amoy Gardens.3 A comparison of the sequence with those of all other SARS-coronavirus genomes accessible at GenBank . . .