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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, July 19, 2003

Swiss Pharmaceutical Group Launches New Test for SARS

The Swiss pharmaceutical group, Roche, has launched a test to detect Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) after developing it in record time, Swiss Radio International reported Friday.


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The Swiss pharmaceutical group, Roche, has launched a test to detect Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) after developing it in record time, Swiss Radio International reported Friday.

SARS has killed more than 800 people and infected nearly 8,500 worldwide since it emerged in southern China last November.

Roche, the world largest diagnostics firm, said the test could be used for research but needed regulatory approval before it could be used on the public.

The Basel-based company said the test had been developed in only eight weeks, the shortest time ever for a research product at Roche.

Roche added it had worked closely with virologists, hospitals and government agencies in SARS hotspots.

Spokesman Baschi Durr said although the World Health Organization (WHO) had indicated that the number of SARS cases worldwide was falling, there was still a use for the test.

"Even if the infection rate with the SARS virus is regressive, we do not know if we will have to face another outbreak in the future," Durr said.

In the meantime, researchers can use our product to answer questions about SARS which are still open, like the incubation time and how long the virus can survive outside the body, he added.

The WHO announced at the beginning of July that the SARS outbreak was stabilizing. The highly contagious flu-like illness has spread to over 30 countries, with Asia being badly affected.


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