- Hello Jeff,
-
- I think that the theory of SARS spreading via cockroaches
is highly unlikely.
-
- Moreover, I think that the common surfaces in the complex
were the source of the SARS virus transmission to other tenants of the
complex.
-
- Elevator buttons, railings, door knobs, etc that were
handled by someone with SARS was probably "contaminated" with
the virus and the next person came along, touched the surface and became
infected. Poor hygene is more to blame then cockroaches. This is
a perfect example of why people need to do constant hand washing especially
in SARS outbreak areas. Also, close proximity to SARS patient in
elevator could be a serious problem. A SARS patient could sneeze,
cough, etc and then we would have aerosolized particles in the air. An
entomologist will tell you why cockroaches would not be suspect in this
outbreak. The base agent appears to be a coronavirus recombinent
and I doubt that it could be spread by cockroaches or even mosquitos.
-
- SARS does live in the environment for up to 2 hours,
plenty of time to await a host on an elevator button, escalator, railings
and so forth.
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