1,445 new viruses found in effort to prevent epidemics

When a deadly disease emerged in South China's Guangdong province in late 2002, and patients began to die, there was no definite diagnosis as to the cause of death. An epidemic quickly spread nationwide and then to other countries and regions.

It wasn't until five months later, after 774 deaths in 37 countries, that scientists in Canada identified the SARS virus as the source of the infection.

To prevent such a tragedy from happening again, scientists began looking into unknown viruses.