Initial results of a gene sequencing test show the man with the suspected case of SARS in Guangdong Province last week may possibly have the coronavirus, said an official with the provincial center for disease prevention and control Friday.

Xu Ruiheng, deputy director, said the center had carried out SARS virus gene testing, gene dilation and sequencing on the secretion obtained from the man's throat.

Using the method of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), scientists obtained a gene section containing S, M and N genes from the suspect. Comparing the sequences of the gene section with all those of the SARS coronavirus published by the international gene bank, experts found that 98.8 to 99.4 percent of 3,768 bases of S gene obtained from the suspect, 99 percent of 658 bases of M gene, and 99 percent of 1,068 bases of N gene, are isogenous with those of S, M and N genes published by the gene bank.

"Gene sequencing is of great significance for diagnosing the SARS case as the virus has not extracted from the suspect," said Xu.

The China Diseases Prevention and Control Center is still cross-checking all the results.

The 32-year-old freelance TV station worker is the first suspected SARS case since May 23, 2003, when the World Health Organization lifted the SARS-related travel advisory against Guangdong Province.

The first SARS case emerged in Foshan City, also in Guangdong, in November 2002.

During the SARS outbreak last year, 5,327 SARS cases were reported on the Chinese mainland. The death toll from the epidemic disease stands at 349. 

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2004)