Rapid response research to emerging infectious diseases: lessons from SARS

Abstract

New and emerging infectious diseases continue to plague the world, and there is significant concern that recombinant infectious agents can be used as bioterrorism threats. Microbiologists are increasingly being asked to apply their scientific knowledge to respond to these threats. The recent pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus illustrated not only how a newly evolved pathogen can rapidly spread throughout the world but also how the global community can unite to identify the causative agent and control its spread. Rapid response research mechanisms, such as those used by the SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative (SAVI), have shown that the application of emergency management techniques, together with rapid response research, can be highly effective when applied appropriately to new infectious diseases.

Figure 1. The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pandemic and important findings.

As Canada was badly affected by SARS, SAVI was set up with the explicit aim of developing a human vaccine for this disease.

Figure 2. Schematic representation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) particle.

The positions of the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins are indicated. The SARS Accelerated Vaccine Initiative (SAVI) is developing three vaccine candidates in parallel based on: inactivated whole virus; the S protein, which has been implicated in viral entry into cells; and the N protein that surrounds the positive-stranded genomic RNA.

Figure 3. Generic model of the organization of a rapid research response to an emerging infectious disease.

An outbreak of an infectious disease (for example, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)) requires the formation of a management committee to coordinate epidemiological studies for disease surveillance and implementation of control measures and policies, and a coordinated, parallel rapid research response involving collaborations between academic, government and industrial organizations to develop and license therapeutics or prophylactics to counter against the infectious pathogen. GMP, good manufacturing practice.