SARS to Be Listed as Health Threat

WASHINGTON (CN) – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans to add SARS-associated coronavirus to the department’s list of agents or toxins that have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety.     The Health Department proposes this action because it has found that (1) The virus can cause a significant number of deaths, especially in the elderly; (2) the virus has the capability of easily being transmitted from human to human; (3) there is currently no vaccine or antiviral approved for the prevention or treatment of infections caused by the virus; and (4) it has been documented that the virus may persist in the environment.     Click the document icon for this and other new regulations.