Chinese scientists have found that the coronavirus that
causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
is also carried by foxes and cats, not just civets, according to
the Guangzhou Evening Newspaper.?
Lin Jinyan, the leader of a SARS control and prevention research
team in south China's Guangdong Province, reported in a seminar
held in Guangzhou that other wild animals were also found to carry
the virus.
The team had tested thousands of people carrying SARS antibodies
in 16 cities in Guangdong and found that among 994 people working
in animal markets, 10.6 percent carried positive antibodies, and
among 123 civet cat husbandry staff, only 3.25 percent tested
positive.
Experts have also tested foxes, hedgeshrews and cats collected
in the province and discovered that some carried the SARS
coronavirus.
On January 16, World Health Organization experts claimed that
SARS or a SARS-like coronavirus was linked to civet cats.
WHO epidemiologist Robert Breiman said it's possible that other
animals were also involved in the spread of SARS.
(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2004)