Cats can get Sars

News 24 (South Africa) ^ | 5-15-03

[Prince Charles]

Cats can get Sars

15/05/2003 18:42  - (SA)  

  Geneva - Some cats may become temporarily infected with the Sars virus but do not appear to be able to transmit the disease, according to research in Hong Kong, a top World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Thursday.

David Heymann, head of WHO's communicable diseases unit, also told journalists that officials in China were preparing research to find out how the pneumonia-like disease might have jumped the species barrier between animals and humans.

Heymann told journalists that the only studies on domestic pets like cats and dogs that he knew of had been carried out following the outbreak at the Amoy gardens apartement block in Hong Kong.

"They noticed that some cats did become infected transiently with Sars, but they (the cats) did not continue to harbour the disease and they didn't seem to be able to transmit it," he added.

Reports last month that a cat owned by a family in the infected block had been carrying the virus caused a flurry among local residents, prompting some to return their household companions to the nearest pet shop.

Health and agriculture ministries in China's Guangdong Province are preparing studies to find out what animals might carry Sars, Heymann said.

The outbreak of the potentially deadly disease is believed to have originated in the area.

Live game markets

"The big question is what animal studies can be done and what should be done in Guangdong province where we believe this disease emerged," he said.

"There are some feelings that possibly live game markets might have been associated with some of the earlier cases, but this is only a hypothesis, it is nothing concrete," Heymann added during a telephone news conference.

Mice and monkeys were being used in laboratory research into the disease according to WHO.

Some research into possible vectors had touched on cockroaches, which involved finding if the virus stuck onto the insects.

The issue of research into animals and transmission of Sars was likely to be broached among other issues during a meeting of epidemiologists organised by the WHO in Geneva on Friday and Saturday, Heymann said.

Heymann noted that the outbreak in Guangdong appeared to be down to about five new cases a day, indicating that efforts to control it there were effective.

The province had recorded the highest number of Sars cases in China in the first quarter of 2003.

There have been 5 124 cases of Sars in mainland China, with 3 043 people probably suffering from the pneumonia-like disease there at the moment, according to WHO data.

[Prince Charles]

Here's your link to F.I.P.

[areafiftyone]

I think they can get a form of the AIDS virus too if I am not mistaken!

[jerseygirl]

A possibility for animal-human transmission?

What if (tinfoil) some research like THIS went awry?

Check this out- PRC's Year 2000 report on Biotech included the following:

PRC Biotech: Top Researcher Sees Great Prospects
A January 2000 report from U.S. Embassy Beijing

biotech researchers want to modify animal blood so that human blood donors will not be needed. The four-year European Union moratorium on genetically modified organisms gives China Lack of IPR protection, lack of venture capital, lack of an adequate distribution system, and the lack of public understanding of biotechnology are important hindrances to Chinese biotech. a great opportunity to seize biotech market share. The European Union has blow biotech fears all out of proportion. Chen said that many millions of Americans have eaten biotech products during the past three years so they must be safe for Chinese people too. Bureaucracy is the number one problem for Chinese science.

Transform Animal Blood, Organs for Human Use--- (excerpt)

Now the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology is working on a project to transform the blood of cows or pigs to human blood. This will make it unnecessary to have human blood donors. Small-scale clinical trials of transplantation of organs from transgenic animals may start next year. Transgenic researchers are trying to remove the genes that cause rejection of a pig's heart so that if it is transplanted into a human the organ will be accepted. In the not too distant future we might see people who as the Chinese saying goes have "wolf hearts and dog lungs."

[w_over_w]

Cats can get Sars 15/05/2003 18:42 - (SA) Geneva - Should your cat show symptoms of withdrawl and an attitude of "don't bother me I'm just chillin", you should report this to the nearest free clinic.

[aristeides]

Bad news for cats.

Most cats infected with FIP too don't get sick or exhibit symptoms. I wonder how sure they can be that no cats will get sick from SARS or transmit the disease.

[You Dirty Rats]

Cats can get SARS but can't transmit it?

Great news all around.

On the other hand, I'm not without some feelings; this could put quite a crimp in the food supply for people in the Far East.

I hate cats.

[Mister Baredog]

Those EVIL CATS again, that's why I have a dog.

[buffyt]

FIP is a lot like SARS, isn't it.

I read that they are beating their pet dogs and cats to death in China. They think that their pets are making them catch SARS.

[buffyt]

The pet I saw on the news that was being beaten to death was a beautiful healthy dog.

[vetvetdoug]

Thank you for the comforting information and ping.

[Calvin Locke]

I hate cats.

So do I. But they do serve a purpose in keeping down the population of other rodents.

[flamefront]

What about birds? Part of the SARS genes are not just feline but avian. Travel of the disease by bird flight would be a big problem.

[dc-zoo]

This is a real cats/asstrophe.

[Lucy Lake]

I never met a cat I didn't like.

[Nov3]

Another good reason to eradicate cats!

[NordP]

DOGS RULE!!!

[N. Theknow]

Cats can get SARS?

Ummmmm.....How about sheep? Can they get SARS?

[NordP]

It's times like these when yah wish there was plenty of extra $$$ in your bank account to buy plane tickets with, and it was legal to shoot people who hurt animals.

[Constitution Day]

Those EVIL CATS again, that's why I have a dog.

Damn Dirty Cats!
This is why I have 2 dogs. :~)

Sincerely,

Constitution Day
Inveterate cat hater.