Maximum Likelihood Method on The Construction of Phylogenetic Tree for Identification the Spreading of SARS Epidemic

There are several phylogenetic tree construction methods that can be used to illustrate the spread of disease epidemics. One of the methods used is probability-based maximum likelihood. This paper explains how to identify the spread of the SARS epidemic in the world using the formation of phylogenetic trees using the maximum likelihood method. The output obtained was a description of the spread of SARS virus with the selection of tree candidates after performing a heuristic search of the Stepwise Addition method. The result of the research showed that the closest distance to the palm civet is GZ 02/18/03 indicating that the initial spread of the SARS epidemic started from Guangzhou.