One year later, MERS virus remains largely a mystery

A year after SARS hit the world’s radar, scads had been learned about the virus that set off outbreaks in China, Hong Kong, Toronto and other spots, and ignited panic far beyond the affected centres. The coronavirus was rapidly discovered, it genome sequenced within weeks of the World Health Organization warning on March 15, 2003, of its existence and spread. The animals that transmitted it to people had been identified. Doctors knew when SARS patients were infectious and what steps needed to be taken to stop its spread. With that knowledge, the virus was quickly contained. SARS is medical history. Later this week — Friday — will mark a year since the world learned that a cousin of the SARS virus had burst out of some hiding spot in nature to infect and kill a man in Saudi Arabia. Since then, the world has learned of roughly 130 MERS cases, 57 of...