Top Military Research Lab Part of Worldwide Search for SARS Cure

Thursday, May 29, 2003
By SFC Doug Sample
U.S. Army
American Forces Press Service

Already, 40 FDA-approved drugs currently used to treat a variety of viral infections such as HIV, herpes, flu and hepatitis have been sent to the lab for evaluation by independent pharmaceutical companies. Thousands more will also be tested as scientists investigate whether these drugs, although not designed to be effective against SARS, could prove to have a "cross-reacting" ability to fight the virus.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
The military has joined a worldwide effort to find a cure for the sometimes deadly SARS virus.

At the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a small team of scientists at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Ft. Detrick, Md., has trained its microscopes on severe acute respiratory syndrome.

"This [research] does in fact fit into our overall mission in that although we have not had an outbreak in the military yet, if we were operating in an area where the SARS virus was in fact transmitting, this would be a significant military problem," said John Huggins.

An expert in viral research and chief of the laboratory's viral therapeutics branch, Huggins' major concentration has been on screening drugs against viral agents, including Ebola, Marburg, smallpox and now SARS.

Scientists at the Army institute normally work to develop strategies for protecting military personnel against biological warfare threats and naturally occurring infectious diseases.

"Because SARS poses a global health problem for the military and civilians potentially, we were asked to participate in this effort also," he said.
(More: DefenseLINK.mil)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/May2003/n05292003_200305294.html
2003 © U.S. Department of Defense.

Dan