Second China Sars suspect spotted

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3377997.stm

 

Second China Sars suspect spotted

 

A second suspected case of Sars has been identified in the Chinese

province of Guangdong.

A 20-year-old waitress has been admitted to hospital and isolated, the

state news agency Xinhua reports.

 

The news came as the country's first Sars patient in six months left

hospital after making a full recovery from the potentially fatal virus.

 

In Hong Kong, three TV journalists who recently visited southern China

are being tested for Sars.

 

They had visited a wild animal market and the hospital where the first

Chinese Sars patient was being treated, while preparing a report on the

illness.

 

But a woman in the Philippines has been cleared of having the virus.

 

It was feared that she had caught Sars after developing a fever when she

returned from working in Hong Kong in December.

 

Mass slaughter

 

The Chinese waitress suspected of having the disease reportedly worked

in a restaurant serving wild game in the southern city of Guangzhou.

 

She has been in hospital since 31 December while 48 people close to her

have been placed under quarantine.

 

CIVET CAT

 

Part of mongoose family, distant relative of feline cat

Weasel-like face, cat-like body

Served in wild game restaurants

Estimated 10,000 in Guangdong markets

May have been the source of the virus which jumped to humans

 

China follows Mao with mass cull

Scientists believe the virus that causes Sars may have jumped from

animals to humans but it is still unclear which animals might be

carrying it and how it might have leapt the species barrier.

 

 

It is not yet known how the first Guangdong patient, who has been

identified only as " Mr Luo " , contracted the virus.

 

In his first interview since being diagnosed with the disease, the

32-year-old man said he had never eaten civet cat which has been linked

to Sars.

 

A mass slaughter of the animals is being carried out in Guangdong.

 

In an interview with the state-run Xinhua news agency the man said he

had never even seen a civet, let alone eaten one.

 

Tests had shown his virus was similar to one found in civets, prompting

the government's decision to slaughter about 10,000 of the animals.

 

Mouse contact

 

The disease has also been linked to rats and the authorities in

Guangdong now say that they will launch a rat extermination campaign

after they have finished killing the civets.

 

In the interview with Xinhua, Mr Luo said he caught a baby mouse in the

bath tub using a pair of chopsticks.

 

He described himself as an environmentalist opposed to the slaughter of

living creatures, so he said he threw the animal out of a window.

 

The new cases mark a return of the Sars virus which broke out in China

and caused a global health crisis last year.

 

It killed around 800 people and infected about 8,000.

 

It had been hoped that Mr Luo's case might be an isolated one but the

chances of that are now diminishing, says BBC correspondent in Beijing

Louisa Lim.

 

 

 

--

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