How do scientists identify viruses?

Many people wonder how do scientists determine the cause of SARS (a virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome) in particular and viruses in general?

1. Basic rules for identifying infectious organisms

In 1890, Robert Koch outlined basic rules for scientists to use to determine if an infectious organism is causing a particular disease. These four rules are known as "Koch's Principles."
Pathogens should always be found in an infected organism but not in a healthy organism. Pathogens must be grown under experimental conditions outside the organism. The pathogen must be capable of causing disease when infecting susceptible animals. The causative agent must be determined from the re-isolation results.

Heinrich Hermann Robert Koch là một bác sĩ người Đức đã phát triển Nguyên tắc Kock

For example, in the case of the discovery of the SARS virus (sometimes shortened to SARS-CoV), scientists found and developed a number of sick people with symptoms of SARS - thus complete Koch's first two principles. Because exposure to the virus is implausible, scientists used a technique called epidemiology to demonstrate that only people exposed to the virus become infected. This technique is based on surveying and studying groups of people with the disease and comparing them to people without the disease. The researchers then assumed that the disease would be contagious if a person was exposed to the disease. They then continued to look to see if new people were unknowingly exposed to the disease and the organism that was developed from them. This meets Koch's third and fourth principles.

In the case of SARS, scientists have clearly shown that the virus is related to infected people and that the virus has been isolated from these patients. Epidemiology also shows that the disease occurs in people who are exposed to the disease more often than in those who have not been exposed to the disease. Ultimately, the virus was developed from people who were then exposed.
Alternatively, can scientists use animals to prove these last two rules by exposing animals to the virus and seeing if it causes a disease like SARS?

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References source: webmd.com, pennmedicine.org

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SARS: What you need to know is Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) dangerous? Acute respiratory distress syndrome in adults

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