Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Shenzhen chef's taste for exotic animals may be to blame (for SARS)
The Standard ^ | May 9, 2003

Posted on 05/09/2003 9:32:23 AM PDT by Dog Gone

Huang Xingchu, a chef in Heyuan County and well known for his expert preparation of exotic animals, is believed to be one of three Sars index patients in Guangdong who triggered the global outbreak of the killer disease.

World Health Organisation (WHO) officials, who recently toured Guangdong, believe he could have got the disease from the animals he handled.

However, 35-year-old Huang is not only alive and kicking, but he is back at his job as a chef for two big restaurants in Shenzhen, his father told Sing Tao Daily, sister paper of The Standard, when a reporter visited his hometown.

Huang's uncle was more forthright. ``Once he left the hospital, he picked up his life where he left off,'' he said.

``He still doesn't realise the danger. He continues to be a chef for exotic animals in Shenzhen. It seems that those who contracted the disease while trying to save him had sacrificed themselves for nothing.''

The other two index patients came from Zhongshan and Shunde and were also in the same profession as Huang.

Huang was the one who infected Professor Liu Jianlun when he was admitted to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hospital in Guangzhou for treatment in January.

Liu subsequently brought the disease to Hong Kong on February 21 and sparked the global outbreak when he infected some foreign visitors and a Hong Kong person at the Metropole Hotel, Mong Kok, where he stayed.

After assessing the situation in Guangdong, WHO experts believe that Huang's infection was linked to his contact with exotic animals.

They found that of the 900 Sars patients in Guangdong, about 5per cent had come into contact with wild animals, an exceptional high proportion.

Huang, who is married and has two children, came down with the disease in late November.

When his situation worsened, he was admitted to Heyuan Municipal People's Hospital from December 5-10 but was transferred to the hospital in Guangzhou when it became apparent he was suffering from an unknown disease.

A number of doctors and nurses who had came into contact with him also fell victim to the disease. In addition, some of Huang's relatives and the ambulance driver who took him to the hospital were also found to have caught the virus - taking the then total number of infections to eight.

His uncle said:

``He has handled a lot of exotic animals such as pangolins, civet cats and owls. He knows where to find sufficient supplies of these wild animals, even the hard-to-get tiger meat. He has brought in a lot of business for the restaurants. His boss has high regard for him.''

Zhong Nanshan, 66, a leading Chinese specialist in respiratory diseases who is heading an expert task force to fight Sars in Guangdong province, said he was puzzled when Huang first entered the hospital for treatment.

Although he had extreme difficulty in breathing, Huang did not have a high temperature, as is typical with pneumonia.

It was also realised that his lungs were hardening, leading to even more difficulty in breathing.

``His lungs were as hard as plastic, which is unseen in regular pneumonia or in other respiratory diseases,'' Zhong recalled.

The usual treatment with antibiotics had no effect and it was only after the patient was given intravenous injections of corticosteroid (steroid hormone produced by the cortex of the adrenal glands) that his condition began to improve.

Huang survived the disease, but in an unexpected turn of events, thousands of people have been infected worldwide with the death toll exceeding 500.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: china; huangxingchu; metropolehotel; patientzero; sars
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

1 posted on 05/09/2003 9:32:24 AM PDT by Dog Gone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Good grief. It sounds like Marlon Brando in "The Freshman."
2 posted on 05/09/2003 9:47:20 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
I saw in the paper yesterday that some doctors in China are treating SARS with cow urine and melons.

Got a real sophisticated country over there.

3 posted on 05/09/2003 9:49:43 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cicero
Good grief. It sounds like Marlon Brando in "The Freshman."

Heh...that was my first thought, too.

Bizarre.

4 posted on 05/09/2003 9:51:40 AM PDT by RosieCotton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Hot and SARS soup? General Tsao's Owl? Har-Hok Lungh? Moo-shoo Trachea of Tiger; Hot and SARS Rhesus Pieces?

Sounds like an appropriate time for won ton abandon.....

5 posted on 05/09/2003 9:52:55 AM PDT by tracer (/b>)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
treating SARS with cow urine and melons

Well, they get high marks for creativity, I guess. That's not a medical treatment I ever would have thought of.

6 posted on 05/09/2003 9:55:49 AM PDT by Dog Gone
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
saw a documentary about AIDS, about 10 years ago, where a European doctor also speculated that AIDS was originally a virus found in monkeys ( of course the virus and monkey co-exists for 10000 years without hurting the monkeys)

Suspect that this virus cross over to humans when Africans in Africa eat monkey meat
7 posted on 05/09/2003 9:56:34 AM PDT by The Pheonix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone; Judith Anne; Mother Abigail; CathyRyan; per loin; Petronski; InShanghai; Ma Li; ...
Where is Shenzhen?

If SARS came out of a bio lab, like was suggested on Batchelor & Alexander last night, this guy is not responsible.

8 posted on 05/09/2003 9:56:46 AM PDT by aristeides
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Who has to collect the cow urine, and how? Follow the cow around?

"Excuse me, Bessie, would you please pee in this bottle?"
9 posted on 05/09/2003 10:00:10 AM PDT by ChemistCat (My new bumper sticker: MY OTHER DRIVER IS A ROCKET SCIENTIST)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: tracer
HAHAHAHAHAAAA, vey Punny!
10 posted on 05/09/2003 10:00:36 AM PDT by Zavien Doombringer (If I keep my eyes on Jesus, I could walk on water - Audio Adrenaline)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: aristeides
Shenzhen is in Guangdong Province quite near to HK

It is an ultra modern metropolis built out of padi fiels in the 1980s

It is a booming manufacturing and Hi-Tech industries city
11 posted on 05/09/2003 10:01:55 AM PDT by The Pheonix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: ChemistCat
that's how the phrase, "HOLY COW!" came, about

Or as the cow would say, No SARS, no piss
12 posted on 05/09/2003 10:04:16 AM PDT by The Pheonix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: aristeides
Perhaps the chef was/is the terrs vector dupe?
13 posted on 05/09/2003 10:05:44 AM PDT by Betty Jo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
Just proving once again - you are what you eat. Please pass the blowfish, cock-a-to, lychee nut salad, with cow urine dressing.
14 posted on 05/09/2003 10:09:12 AM PDT by familyofman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aristeides
I thought Time Asia had implicated an exotic animal dealer as the index patient in Canton province? I suppose he could have sold some of the critters to the weirdo chef....
15 posted on 05/09/2003 10:38:13 AM PDT by Prince Charles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
don't knock it

urine contains a lot of nitrogenous waste by-products some of whick are toxic, and maybe this toxic stuff could help to do the SARS virus in

This is real folk medicine
16 posted on 05/09/2003 10:42:36 AM PDT by The Pheonix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
I'll have the pangolin steak--well done, please.
17 posted on 05/09/2003 10:47:50 AM PDT by k2blader (Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right. - John Donne)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
...besides, cow urine is readily available on the farm, and it's free......
18 posted on 05/09/2003 10:51:19 AM PDT by The Pheonix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
After intense mental cogitation I have come to the conclusion that this uncle doesnt seem to like his nephew's cooking. I'll take a wild risk and state that he doesn't like his nephew either.
19 posted on 05/09/2003 10:51:22 AM PDT by neither-nor
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dog Gone
the cow urine treatment is the best example of FAITH HEALING

If you have enough faith in the doctor to drink cow urine, then your body's defense system have enough will power and enough fighting spirit to give the SARS virus a good fight
20 posted on 05/09/2003 10:54:55 AM PDT by The Pheonix
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson