(CN) Stopping wild animal consumption

[Guest guest]

China Daily

http://www1.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2003-05-26/116307.html

(QIN JIZE)

05/26/2003

 

The latest study linking wild animals such as civet cats to the coronavirus

that causes SARS has forced governments to take stricter measures to stop

their trade and consumption.

The research, released on Friday and Saturday, has produced wide

repercussions throughout the country, especially in South China's Guangdong

Province.

 

Local government and non-governmental groups are now attempting to halt the

practice of eating wild animals.

 

Some experts in Guangdong have urged the government to ban the sales of

wildlife and strongly enforce the move.

 

According to regulations in Guangdong, people who knowingly eat dishes that

contain animals on the State protection list will be fined 10,000 yuan

(US$1,205) - three times the average monthly salary of locals.

 

The legislation body in Shenzhen is drafting a regulation to forbid the

hunting, processing, purchasing, slaughtering and consumption of wildlife.

The first version is expected to come out soon.

 

In Beijing, wildlife protection departments have launched a thorough

inspection into the trade of wild animals in the city, including civet cats.

 

Experts with the Ministry of Agriculture found that the genetic order of the

SARS virus was identical to the genetic order of the coronavirus that can be

found in animals like bats, monkeys, civet cats and snakes.

 

The animal coronavirus investigation team has collected 1,700 animal samples

from 59 species, including various kinds of domestic livestock, wildlife,

aquatic animals and pets, all of which possibly come into contact with

humans.

 

But how the SARS or SARS-like coronavirus jumped from wildlife to the human

race and caused the outbreak of the disease is still being studied.

 

Researchers in Hong Kong also announced on Friday that they have charted a

complete genetic map of the SARS-like coronavirus detected in the Himalayan

palm civet, which shares 99.8 per cent of the genetic code of the SARS

coronavirus.

 

The scientific research also ruled out pets and other domestic livestock as

the source of the disease as the two have a different coronavirus genome.

 

Experts have called for dogs, cats and other family pets to be treated

humanely as some have been abandoned due to fears they might have been

responsible for spreading the flu-like virus.

 

According to Doctor Tian Kegong from the veterinarian diagnosis centre at

the Ministry of Agriculture, no animals in China have died from the disease.

 

" We are still looking into the issue, but there has been no evidence so far

to show any possible SARS transmission through domesticated dogs and cats, "

he added.

 

Wang Zhihua, from a Beijing-based animal hospital, said: " Stricter

precautionary measures are understandable and necessary, especially during

the crucial time of SARS prevention. "