Beijing planning mass Sars cull

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3368003.stm

Beijing planning mass Sars cull

 

Chinese authorities plan to slaughter thousands of civets - small

cat-like animals - amid growing fears of a re-emergence of the deadly

Sars virus. The move came as the Health Ministry confirmed a

32-year-old man in southern Guangdong province had Sars, the country's

first case in months.

 

In Guangdong, where civet is a popular dish, wild animal markets will

close.

 

Researchers in Hong Kong have linked the strain the man is carrying and

a similar virus found in civets in China.

 

Sars killed 349 people on China's mainland last year.

 

Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory

Diseases, told a Hong Kong news conference on Monday that the

32-year-old television producer, who was ill in Guangdong, definitely

had the Sars virus.

 

But the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it was still treating the

man as a suspected case, until tests being carried out in Hong Kong

proved conclusive.

 

Mr Zhong's team said that the virus in this latest case appeared to be

slightly different to that which originated in Guangdong in November

2002 and eventually fuelled a worldwide outbreak.

 

The researchers added that they had found a virus very similar to this

new strain in civet cats, suggesting it had jumped from the animals to

humans.

 

Mr Zhong said the suspected Sars carrier had claimed not to have eaten

any wild animals before he fell ill, but did admit to touching at least

one rat.

 

Many researchers believe the strain of Sars which killed hundreds of

people last year was also spread by animals such as civets, ducks, pigs

and rats.

 

Guangdong Health Bureau official, Feng Liuxiang, said up to 10,000

civets would be slaughtered.

 

" We will seek to seal and block all civet cats from other provinces and

take action to kill civet cats in Guangdong province, " he told a news

conference.

 

But the WHO cautioned against a potentially negative fall-out from a

hasty slaughter.

 

Roy Wadia, the WHO's Beijing spokesman, said the Chinese authorities

should be careful not to drive the civet trade underground, which could

be " counter-productive to containing the disease " .

 

He also warned against a messy cull which could risk a renewed outbreak

of the virus.

 

" What we are suggesting is that the slaughter be very carefully done, "

Mr Wadia said.

 

There are also fears of a resurgence of Sars in Hong Kong and the

Philippines. A Filipino maid, who has recently returned from working in

Hong Kong, and her family, are being tested for possible cases.

 

The woman, who has a fever, is currently isolated at a hospital along

with her doctor, a health department spokesman Dennis Magat said.

 

The authorities are trying to trace people she may have had contact

with.

 

The Philippine government last year reported 14 Sars cases, which

included two deaths from the disease.

 

Sars killed 774 people worldwide, mostly in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and

Singapore.

 

 

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Dave Neale

Animals Asia Foundation

 

Find out more about the historic China Bear Rescue by visiting the

Animals Asia Foundation website at http://www.animalsasia.org