Cats Likely Source of SARS, Say Researchers (Chinese delicacy likely source of deadly virus)

VOA News ^ | 5/23/03 | Katherine Maria

[ppaul]

A Hong Kong researcher says a wild animal considered a dining delicacy is the carrier of a virus that causes SARS. The finding fits earlier speculation that Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome originated in wild animals.

Hong Kong University revealed Friday that the civet cat, a wild animal indigenous to southern China, is the likely source of the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

Dr. K.Y. Yuen said researchers at the Shenzhen Center of Disease Control found four strains of the virus in a large percentage of civet cats. "From a special type of civet cat, we are able to isolate the coronavirus," he said, "and this coronavirus on genomic analysis was found to be very similar to the coronavirus causing SARS in humans. But if you cannot control the further jumping of such virus from animals to human, the same epidemic can occur again."

The civet, a small long mammal with short legs and a pointed snout, is a delicacy in southern Chinese cuisine. Dr. Yuen says the disease likely jumped from animal to human when it was being killed or prepared for cooking.

But the cats themselves do not display any signs of illness, according to Dr. Yuen, perhaps indicating their immune system might be geared toward controling the virus. Dr. Yuen said the finding might not lead to a vaccine or cure for SARS in humans, but he urged people in China to stop selling the animals in food markets to limit possible transmission of the virus.

In a separate development, the World Health Organization on Friday lifted its travel advisory on Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong. Hong Kong's leader Tung Chee-hwa welcomed the decision.

The advisory went into effect on April 2, when the WHO saw the disease spreading rapidly through Hong Kong, and no one knew why or how. Airlines, hotels and restaurants suffered huge losses, as tourists and business travelers deferred visits to the region and Hong Kong residents stayed home.

Detected in southern China last November, SARS started spreading in Hong Kong in early March. It was then carried to other cities around the world by airline travelers. The disease, which causes a potentially deadly pneumonia, has afflicted more than 8,000 people worldwide with almost 90 percent of cases occurring in China and Hong Kong. Globally, SARS has killed more than 700 people.

[ppaul]

Great news from The People's Republic!

[Zavien Doombringer]

(to the tune: Cat's in the Cradle - Thanks Wierd Al)

Did you ever think
when you eat Chinese
It aint pork or chicken
but a fat Simese...

[Chewbacca]

Cat. The other white meat.

[Renatus]

I hate cats.

[Eric Esot]

Just a little Info on Civet Cat, Found to Have SARS via AP

_ APPEARANCE: The civet cat, found across the world, resembles a large weasel, with a long, catlike body with a large tail. The civet's fur can be gray or brown, have stripes or spots, and bands of color on its tail. Some are between five and 11 pounds, but it can weigh up to about 25 pounds.

* USES: Civets are considered a culinary delicacy in China. Some types of civets are hunted for their fur. Civets also secrete musk that can be used to make perfume.

* TRAITS: Of the family Viverridae, the civet cat is a primarily nocturnal animal closely related to the mongoose. There are several species. Some are carnivores that live on the ground, while the animals with SARS in China are masked palm civets, which live in trees and eat fruit.

[ppaul]

RE: Cat's in the Cradle

LOL!!!
More! More! More!

[ewing]

Another menu item off the Chinese Buffet restaurant!

[Lijahsbubbe]

Me too. Why do they carry so many diseases? I've always wondered about the cats around pregnant women thing.

Sorry cat lovers, I've tried, but I just don't like them!

[Zavien Doombringer]

Ok, to the tune of Cat's in the Craddle - Lyrics by Weird Al

Cat's in the Kettle

Did you ever think when you eat chinese It ain't pork or chicken but a fat siamese? Yet the food tastes great so you don't complain But that's not chicken in your chicken chow mein Seems to me I ordered sweet and sour pork But Garfield's on my fork He's purrin' here on my fork

There's a cat in the kettle at the Peking Moon The place that I eat every day at noon They can feed you cat and you'll never know Once they wrap it up in dough boys They fry it real crisp in dough.

Chow Lin asked if I wanted more As he was diallin' up his buddy at the old pet store I said "Not today, I lost my appetite" There's two cats in my belly and they want to fight.

I was suckin on a roll-aid and a tums or two When I swear I heard it mew boy And that is when I knew

There's a cat in the kettle at the Peking Moon I think I gotta stop eating there at noon They say that it's beef or fish or pork But it's purrin there on my fork There's a hairball on my fork

[Lijahsbubbe]

Civets also secrete musk that can be used to make perfume.

I wonder if they used the musk in a special sauce?

[mabelkitty]

I heard it was monkey brains back in January.

This would also coincide with the Toronto cases, as they serve monkey.

[jgrubbs]

WHO Traces SARS Virus to Civet Cat

By JONATHAN FOWLER, Associated Press Writer

GENEVA - The World Health Organization (news - web sites) has traced the SARS (news - web sites) virus to the civet cat and two other small mammals in China, and researchers are investigating a possible link to the outbreak of the virus in humans, an official said Friday.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong examined 25 animals representing eight species in a live animal market in southern China and found the SARS virus in all six masked palm civets they sampled, as well as in a badger and a raccoon dog.


Klaus Stohr, chief SARS virologist at the World Health Organization, said Friday it was impossible to tell from the study whether any of the animals spread the virus to humans or whether they caught the virus from people.


The researchers said people could have been infected by the animals as they handled the animals while raising, slaughtering or cooking them. Eating fully cooked meat was probably safe, the researchers said.


Civet cats are nocturnal animals related to the mongoose, with long tails and catlike bodies. They resemble small raccoons or weasels.


The researchers said it was possible that animals got SARS from human feces used in fertilizer, and the illness did not originate with them. They recommended such game animals should be raised, slaughtered and sold under careful monitoring. Researchers have previously said SARS came from animals but not been sure what kind.


Meanwhile, the WHO lifted its SARS-related travel advisories Friday against Hong Kong and the Chinese province of Guangdong, and scientists in Hong Kong have found the SARS virus in three species of small mammals traded at a food market.


Also, an American physician with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) who was helping Taiwan battle SARS left the island Friday on a charter flight for Atlanta after developing a fever and other symptoms possibly caused by the virus.


Though the WHO said the virus was under control in Hong Kong and China's southern Guangdong province, it continued to advise against nonessential travel to the Chinese capital, Beijing, and to the regions of Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Tianjin. It also continued to advise against travel to Taiwan, because of continuing new transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome.


There also have been no recent reports of cases being exported to other countries from Hong Kong or Guangdong. All new cases in the past 20 days have occurred in people who were "already identified as contacts of a person with SARS and under active surveillance by the local health authorities," WHO added.


SARS has infected more than 8,000 people worldwide and killed at least 689, the vast majority in China and Hong Kong.


"The outbreak in many areas of China is ongoing, and will require continuing intensive efforts as well as a rapid injection of new resources to fully contain SARS," WHO said.


Also Friday, a private jet departed Taiwan for the United States carrying an American physician who came down with possible SARS symptoms. He had been sent to the island by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Taiwan's SARS Control Committee identified the doctor as Chesley L. Richards Jr., an infection control expert.


Richards arrived in Taiwan on May 15 and had visited the emergency rooms and intensive-care units at two Taipei hospitals where SARS outbreaks were reported, Taiwanese officials said.


This week, he developed a fever and a cough — common SARS symptoms, CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding said Thursday at the centers' headquarters in Atlanta.


WHO said the SARS virus has infected chains of up to 15 people and appears to be just as hardy in its last victim as in its first. Some other viruses mutate over time, and their ability to transmit weakens.


WHO says it is seeking $200 million to launch a fund to help Asian nations combat SARS through medical surveillance and analysis.

Taiwan reported 55 new SARS cases Friday but no new deaths. The island's total number of infections is 538 and the death toll is 60. That gives the island the third-highest toll after mainland China and Hong Kong.

In Canada, health officials say they fear that four people in a Toronto hospital may be ill with SARS. All four are in a respiratory isolation ward, two in critical condition.

Health officials, who learned of the cases late Thursday and do not yet know how the people may have been exposed to the disease, said they cannot say for certain if these are the city's first new SARS cases in over a month. The city last reported a new case of SARS on April 19.

In Singapore, a newspaper reported that some parents are keeping their children chilled with ice water and air conditioning before classes so they won't be sent home with suspected fevers as part of anti-SARS measures.

[Cachelot]

with the Toronto cases, as they serve monkey.

They serve monkeys in Toronto? Would that be the dish or the patrons?

[aristeides]

Ping.

[conservababeJen]

Just another reason to hate cats.

[CobaltBlue]

Civet "cats" are not cats. They do have cat-like faces, but are in the same family as the mongoose.

[Roughneck]

The chinese are CRUEL to those cats. They skin them ALIVE! Saw a documentary about this - its SICK what they do to those animals. Glad the cats are fighting back...

[adam_az]

They serve monkeys in Toronto? Would that be the dish or the patrons?

Yes.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Cats from Outer Space?

[adam_az]

You think the Chinese are cruel to CATS??? (they are, of course)

That's nothing compared to how they treat brown bears...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=bear+bile+farm

They keep them bound in cages with a tube surgically implanted to let the bile drip from their gall bladder for use in Chinese folk remedies.

The bears are kept immobilized for years because if they are allowed to move, they tend to disembowel themselves from being driven mad by pain.