Briefs

SARS virus identified, death count rises

As the death toll from Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
continues to rise, scientists in Canada and the United States have
identified the genetic code of the virus suspected of causing the
disease. This is the first step toward a better diagnostic test and
a possible vaccine.

Worldwide, there are more than 3,100 suspected cases of the
disease and 144 deaths, mostly in Asia. In China, SARS has killed
64 and sickened more than 1,300.

In his first public comment on SARS, Chinese President Hu Jintao
said he was “very worried” about the disease in his
country.

Hu called for airline and train passengers to be screened and
quarantined if necessary, among the toughest measures suggested so
far.

Hu’s statements mark a dramatic shift in the
government’s display of concern, which has repeatedly claimed
that the virus was under control.

The Chinese Export Commodity Fair, China’s biggest trade
fair, is opening as planned today in Guangzhou, the Guangdong
provincial capital. Although local officials have promised to
disinfect taxis, buses and other public spaces, thousands of
foreign businesses have canceled plans to attend.

UCLA/USC study finds damage to human cells exposed to
air pollution

Working in conjunction with USC, UCLA researchers co-authored a
study on human cell damage resulting from inhalation of ultrafine
particulates. The study appears in the April edition of
Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study is concerned with particles among a class of
microscopic airborne pollutants created from incomplete combustion
of gasoline.

Their findings report that ultrafine particulates not only lodge
deep inside the lungs, but also penetrate into the mitochondria,
where they remain for an indefinite period of time. Over time,
these ultrafine particles can cause adverse structural damage to
the cell.

The report was a joint effort by the Southern California
Particle Center & Supersite at UCLA, the David Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA and the Department of Environmental Engineering at
USC.

The findings in the study are among the first to draw a direct
link between ultrafine particulates and structural damage to a
human cell.

Briefs compiled from Daily Bruin wire reports and staff.