[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.

[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.

[aristeides]

Ping.

[conservababeJen]

Just another reason to hate cats.

[Eowyn-of-Rohan]

Cats from Outer Space?

[Physicist]

I just knew this was the fault of Cats!

[sourcery]

Garfield, call your office!

[Physicist]

And I was so looking forward to what "Iron Chef Chinese" Chen Kenichi would do with it, when Chairman Kaga unveiled civet cat as the special ingredient.

[Spruce]

Hey! Who doesn't like to eat some pu**y once in a while?

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Not just any old cats. Space alien cats.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Interesting to say the least. Here's a link that might be of interest I posted today:

Click here.

[Saundra Duffy]

My two cats are precious to me.

[BibChr]

Dr. Yuen says the disease likely jumped from animal to human when it was being killed or prepared for cooking.

*** IN-BAD-TASTE WARNING in 3... 2... 1....

So then... what is the proper serving temperature for cats?

Sorry! Sorry! Just a joke! I love cats! They're so yummy and....

Ack! Sorry! That was a joke too! Somebody STOP me....

Dan

[yonif]

Another virus coming from a mamel. Just great.

[yonif]

[yonif]