How Researchers Tried to Combat SARS (full documentary) | FRONTLINE/World

♪ ♪ >> RENATA SIMONE: Hong Kong is an island at the mouth of the Pearl River on the southeast curve of the coastline of China. Of all the shipping ports in the world, Hong Kong is the busiest. These days, the harbor is almost empty. >> (via speaker): Please cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing. >> SIMONE: From the minute we got off the plane, we could tell something was wrong. >> (via speaker): Wash hands with liquid soap regularly. >> SIMONE: 1,000 flights a day had become 40. >> (via speaker): And wear a mask if you have respiratory tract infection. >> SIMONE: While SARS kept the world away from Hong Kong, there were some people who had to come here. (phone ringing) >> Hello. >> SIMONE: Dr. David Ho is one the world's leading AIDS researchers.

>> We're in the car. >> SIMONE: I've been reporting on his work for more than a decade. >> You should have them call Lisa or... >> SIMONE: By unlocking the secrets of the AIDS virus, he developed the protease-inhibitor treatment that keeps AIDS patients healthy for years. >> What? I'm on my way. It should be another five, ten minutes. >> SIMONE: SARS was an unexpected challenge. >> It's sort of like you see a fire in the next town, and you're very anxious. But if people, folks over there say, "Please come and help us," you definitely cannot say no. And so here we are. In our fireman outfits. (chuckles) >> SIMONE: David Ho has an idea about how to attack the virus. He's brought his top researcher, Linqi Zhang, from New York to test his theory in the lab at Hong Kong University. >> It looks like we're real, real virus hunters. >> Hi, we're here, Richard. >> SIMONE: This is the story of what happened in this room over the next three days.

SARS caught Hong Kong and the world by surprise. By the beginning of June, more than 8,400 cases had been reported in 29 countries. Nearly 800 people had died. That SARS spread so quickly around the world is a warning about a dark side to globalism, a fact of life in the new world of international trade and fast, easy travel. And Hong Kong is a gateway. The public health director, Dr. Margaret Chan, showed me how SARS spread. >> This is Guangzhou. And from there, they have the outbreak in February. And so, as you can see, Guangzhou and Hong Kong is very close. You know how many people move across the border? >> SIMONE: No. >> At its peak, it's about 300,000 a day. (geese squawking) >> SIMONE: It took us just an hour of travel across the Pearl River Delta to reach Guangdong Province.

This is a different world. Here people live and work in close proximity to animals, domestic and wild. With its dense population and year-round subtropical climate, it's a breeding ground for new viruses. Some of these viruses cross the species barrier from animals to people. Nearly all the global flu epidemics of the past 40 years started here. And so did SARS. On February 21, Dr. Liu Jianlun crossed the border from Guangdong Province to come to his nephew's wedding in Hong Kong. He came here, to the Metropole Hotel. He didn't know it, but by the time he checked in, he was infected with the then-unknown virus. His room was on the ninth floor.

Later, researchers discovered that this was the link to the global outbreak. There were nine other guests on this floor who, when they left the hotel, took SARS with them to Singapore, Vietnam, Canada. The virus spread. The SARS virus attaches to a healthy cell, penetrates it and replicates. Cell by cell, the virus damages a victim's lungs. (indistinct chatter) David Ho's idea, based on an AIDS treatment, is to stop the virus by using pieces of protein-- peptides-- to block the attachment. Linqi has designed a set of peptides that they hope will work. >> So we made altogether 12 peptides. Because I designed it, so I put "LQZ" number one to 12. >> SIMONE: That's you. >> Yeah. >> SIMONE: A day after they began, David Ho and Linqi check the results.

They're looking to see if the peptides are protecting the cells. >> No sign at all? Could I see what the viral cells look like? (indistinct) No virus. Right, it's too hard to read right now. Uh, it's still a little too early to read the results. Usually, it takes around 48 hours. >> SIMONE: The results are frustrating. >> Boy, it's damn slow. I think I was misled by the description in the paper saying cultures get wiped out in 24 hours. All right. Let's hope for the best tomorrow. >> SIMONE: This is rush hour that day in Hong Kong. The economic and human impact of SARS has been devastating. This apartment complex had been hit the hardest. More than 320 people living here got sick from the virus.

42 died. It was one of the few places I felt at risk. Most of the cases were in this building. Mr. Tsang-kam-on was the only person who would talk to us. >> (speaking Cantonese) >> SIMONE: While the residents were quarantined, investigators moved in. Their detective work zeroed in on the bathroom. >> (speaking Cantonese) >> SIMONE: The investigators found the virus in the sewage, and through these leaky, exposed pipes, the virus escaped and infected two vertical blocks of apartments. The larger lesson was that transmission of the new virus was different from the flu or the common cold. It was limited to closer contact.

Soon, the most dangerous place to be was the hospital, where the reverend Simon Yeung went to visit a sick parishioner and got sick himself. >> (speaking Cantonese) (preaching in Cantonese) >> SIMONE: Simon Yeung was lucky. After being in intensive care, he recovered, his immune system fighting the virus back. But without any known treatment, life has changed here. They try to overcome the epidemic of fear that has taken hold of the city, but it has still altered even the most trusting of gestures.

(indistinct chatter) The virus attaches to the healthy cell by extending a long molecule from its surface. David Ho's experiment is designed to block this action. At the lab, the team is tense. Why are you nervous? >> Because it carries so much weight and expectations. >> And other people just put their high hopes on you. >> Oh, we, we put more pressure on ourselves. >> Oh, yeah! >> That's true. >> That's called motivation. >> That's true, that's true. >> We would like to save the world. (laughs) >> Let's go! (laughs) >> Let's go in. >> Yeah. >> SIMONE: David Ho has left them for the day to fly to a meeting in Taiwan. Good luck. >> Okay, thank you. >> SIMONE: This time, we persuade them to let us inside.

(indistinct chatter) >> Okay, guys, keep your fingers crossed. >> Moment of truth, man. >> Okay. This is plate one. Okay, I'm checking the first row first to make sure it has no CPE. >> SIMONE: CPE, the cytopathic effect-- the measure of the damage the virus does to the cell. >> No CPE. The second column... ...toxicity. >> SIMONE: Too many peptides can prove toxic. >> Toxicity. >> Okay. >> Toxicity. >> CPE. >> Okay. (indistinct chatter) No CPE. >> Okay. >> SIMONE: For two hours, they read the assays. >> Okay. >> Something interesting, huh? >> Yes. >> Number two. >> Consistently, consistently, starting from here, you can see that it is very consistent.

We got a CPE with definitely some, some effect. >> We've got to check which region it is. >> Okay. >> It's hard to judge this one. >> SIMONE: They check and recheck. >> Yup. Yup, okay-- that's it. >> Wow. >> That's it. >> Okay, so what is that? >> Excellent, something interesting. >> Based on this, it seems that it's actually very potent. >> SIMONE: "Something interesting--" five of the 12 peptides have protected the cells from the SARS virus. >> Hello? Hey, David. Some of CPE results and then the plaque reduction have to wait till tomorrow, but CPE reading is encouraging. Leo went to do the first reading, and then Richard followed. And the reading, I checked it. The reading are very consistent. All right, David, so that's very encouraging news, and enjoy your meeting.

Good, that's good enough. >> SIMONE: Waiting for David Ho to get back that night, we go across the bay to Kowloon for a few hours away. >> It's very natural for people to fear when they know there's no treatment, no vaccine-- very natural. But in Chinese, there is a saying, meaning in English that you will 100% win if you know yourself and your enemy-- very, very philosophical. >> SIMONE: Back at the hotel, he calls Beijing. >> (speaking Mandarin) (laughs) >> SIMONE: By the time David Ho returns, it's after midnight.

>> Hey, David, come in. You must be tired, huh? >> Not bad. >> Not for this. >> They would have been really tired if they... >> The results are terrible. If the results are terrible, they're really tired. >> Okay. >> Wow. >> So not quantitative yet, but you can see the trend. >> SIMONE: They work until 2:00 in the morning. >> You know, this antibody-- I thought a lot about it on the plane-- could explain why some people get really sick and die, and others don't. >> So this could be another big story. >> Right. And everything else is... >> SIMONE: Tomorrow they will present the results to the public. >> So these are all the shorter ones first. >> We are certainly pleased with the result that several of these peptides now actually protected the cells from SARS virus infection.

So this is not testing in animals. This is not testing in patients. This is the very first step. And due to the good work of Richard Gao here, Leo Poon, and Linqi himself, they have been slaving away day and night in the laboratory, and I think it's been a heroic effort, and I would say that some of the heroes are here in front of you. >> SIMONE: David Ho knows that science is a long and unpredictable journey. >> And then we'll be calling you. >> SIMONE: If all goes well, they will start testing the treatment in people later this summer. >> No, I'm going to Beijing this afternoon. >> This afternoon, okay. >> SIMONE: In Hong Kong, they wait hopefully for relief from the SARS virus. And with caution for the next virus that comes down the Pearl River from China. ♪ ♪