MSNBC/Associated Press 1/16/04: WHO finds virus in cages at Guangzhou restaurant

[Guest guest]

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>Evidence suggests link between SARS and civets

>Civet cats with the SARS virus were found in a

>Chinese restaurant where a suspected patient

>worked, adding indications that animals may be

>the source of the disease, an official from the

>World Health Organization said.

>http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3979631/

>

Evidence suggests link between SARS and civets

WHO finds virus in cages at Guangzhou restaurant

Robert Breiman, the WHO's SARS team leader, holds

a press conference on Friday in Guangzhou, China,

where investigators have found evidence

suggesting a possible link between SARS and

civets.

 

 

 

 

The Associated Press

Updated: 2:53 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2004

 

GUANGZHOU, China - Investigators have found

evidence that civet cats with the SARS virus were

in a restaurant where a suspected patient worked,

adding to mounting indications that animals are

the source of the disease, a World Health

Organization official said Friday.

 

Also Friday, experts said China's three SARS

cases this season - one confirmed and two

suspected - are milder than the outbreak that

killed 774 people last year, suggesting they

might be caused by a different form of the

flu-like virus.

 

But the WHO team that spent a week in the

southern city of Guangzhou studying the three

cases reached " no definite conclusions " about

possible sources of the disease, said team leader

Dr. Robert Breiman. He also said WHO doesn't

consider SARS a public health threat, a timely

assurance as millions of Chinese prepare to

travel for the Lunar New Year that starts Jan. 22.

 

In Guangzhou, WHO investigators tested samples

from the restaurant that employed the 20-year-old

waitress suspected to have SARS and where civet

cat - a regional delicacy - was on the menu. They

found evidence of the SARS virus on cages that

held the animals, Breiman said.

 

Earlier research that suggested a possible link

between civets and the confirmed SARS case

prompted large-scale slaughter of the animals in

Guangzhou and surrounding Guangdong province.

 

Still no conclusive proof

Rodents also are suspected carriers although

" there isn't conclusive proof, " said Breiman who

recommended trapping them for testing. Guangzhou

is exterminating thousands of rats in a campaign

that began after the killing of civets.

 

The first known case of severe acute respiratory

syndrome was recorded in November 2002 in

Guangdong, where experts suspect it jumped to

humans from civets or other wildlife. The

outbreak sickened more than 8,000 people around

the world before subsiding in June.

 

This year, China's three cases have been milder,

Breiman and Chinese experts said.

 

The patients had fevers for shorter periods and,

unlike many people stricken earlier, didn't need

respirators to breathe, said Wang Zhiqiong,

deputy director-general of the Guangdong Public

Health Department.

 

The confirmed case already has been pronounced

cured and was released last week from a Guangzhou

hospital, while the two suspected patients are

said to be doing well.

 

Disease may have mutated

" Is this a variant of SARS? Is this perhaps a

slightly different illness? " Breiman said. He

said scientists expected to be able to answer

such questions in the near future.

 

However, researchers haven't been able to isolate

live samples of the virus this year, " so we can't

say for sure how great the change is, " said Dr.

Xu Ruiheng, deputy director of the Guangdong

Center for Disease Control.

 

Guangdong slaughtered 3,903 civets and 665 other

wild animals between Jan. 1 and Monday, Wang

said. She said the province had asked neighboring

regions to block people from shipping civets to

Guangdong and has set up checkpoints at its

borders to check incoming traffic.

 

The province imposed a similar ban on the eating

of the weasel-like animals in April but lifted it

in August. Xu said he recommended that this time,

the prohibition become permanent, although it

wasn't clear when that might happen.

 

Another WHO team traveled to the neighboring

region of Guangxi on Thursday, though the agency

stressed that the trip - planned two months ago -

wasn't in response to any case in the area but

only because of its proximity to Guangdong.

 

FACT FILE The civet and SARS

Health officials in China say the SARS virus may

have spread to humans from civet cats. Click the

buttons on the left for a brief description of

the animal.The civet cat, found across the world,

resembles a large weasel, with a catlike body and

a long tail. The civet's fur can be gray or

brown, have stripes or spots, and bands of color

on its tail. Most are between five and 11 pounds,

but some can weigh up to about 25 pounds.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.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

others, such as the ones associated with SARS in

China, are masked palm civets that live in trees

and eat fruit.Source: Associated Press * " Not

only were there civet cats there, but at some

point civet cats that were carrying the SARS

coronavirus, " he said at a news conference,

adding that experts also found " many, many cages "

with the virus at two live-animal markets.

 

© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast,

rewritten or redistributed.

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