Washington: Canadian scientists have warned that the killer Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) may surface again during the winter, in spite of its spread being curbed at present.

In anticipation, therefore, a new online database of genetic information on SARS has been launched that could assist them in targeting the killer disease, reports 'Nature'.

"We're trying to make the most useful site for the community," says Rachel Roper of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, who is co-ordinating the site with colleague Chris Upton.

The free-access SARS Bio-informatics Suite was launched at the end of May, reports 'Nature'. It now carries the genetic codes of 33 viruses. These include SARS strains isolated from different patients, plus related bird, cow, pig and human corona viruses that can also cause respiratory infections.

The SARS website is part of ongoing efforts to understand and combat the pneumonia-like disease, which has killed more than 800 people.

The resource is regularly updated and provides customised software to help sift out useful features from the viruses' roughly 30,000 chemical letters.

Other researchers are collating SARS sequence data – but the team hopes that their tools to manipulate sequences will make the site a first stop for interested scientists.

ANI