Washington ? Genetic sequences of the SARS virus were hurried into print Thursday in an effort to help researchers worldwide in their efforts to find drugs to treat the respiratory disease or a vaccine to prevent it.

The sequences were published by the journal Science after the work was reviewed and authenticated for accuracy by experts.

A team of Canadians first sequenced a strain of the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, using specimens taken from a patient in Toronto, journal officials said.

Another form of the virus, called the Urbani strain, was sequenced shortly afterward by a U.S.-led team. The Urbani strain was earlier linked to a lung disease by Dutch researchers.

The sequences were posted April 15 on the Internet but are only now being peer-reviewed, a scientific step that lends credence to the accuracy of the work.

Dr. Mark Pallansch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a member of the U.S. team, said the sequences proved that SARS was a type of coronavirus unlike any other in that viral family. Some vaccines have been developed for coronaviruses that attack animals, but SARS is so different, said Pallansch, “it is highly unlikely that we’ll be able to exploit any of the existing vaccines.”

And yet the genetic structure of the strain sequenced by the Canadian team and by the U.S. team are “extremely similar,” said Pallansch. Out of almost 30,000 nucleotides in the viral genetic structure, there was a difference between the strains in only 10 units, he said.

The most important applications of the sequences, he said, will be to refine tests to enable doctors to quickly identify people infected with SARS.

The sequences were mapped quickly in an effort to distribute the data to other scientists and to drug companies as soon as possible, Pallansch said.

¢ See the genetic sequence