A civet cat, commonly known as a fishing cat has been traced to the coronavirus which causes SARS. Southern Chinese have a particular penchant for eating wild game, including civet cats. HONG KONG -- A top Hong Kong scientist said on Friday it was likely the deadly SARS virus that has killed almost 700 people worldwide jumped to humans from civet cats, which are considered a delicacy by many people in southern China.
The finding will help prevent a repeat of such an epidemic in the future through the use of more hygienic and regulated methods of farming and slaughter, said Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, head of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong.
"From genetic information, it is highly likely that the virus jumped from civet cats to humans," Yuen told reporters, releasing the results of a month-long investigation by Hong Kong and Chinese scientists who tracked the source of the virus.
Southern Chinese have a particular penchant for eating wild game, including civet cats, endangered snakes and turtles, but such practices have come under increasing scrutiny because close contact between animals and wild game may help animal viruses jump the species barrier to humans.
Yuen said civet cats carried huge amounts of the virus in their stools and respiratory secretions but remained unaffected.
However, anyone who reared or slaughtered the animal risks infection if they come in contact with the feces or respiratory secretions of the mammal, which is a native of Africa and Asia.
"If you touch a surface that is contaminated with the virus and you transfer it to your mucous membrane, there is a high chance you will be infected," he said.
While it is illegal to sell and consume endangered species in China, authorities have long looked the other way. These animals are kept and sold openly in markets in southern China -- and subsequently butchered -- often in very unsanitary conditions.
The first known SARS case emerged in southern China in November and began spreading to several other countries from March, infecting 8,113 people so far and killing 688.
Experts say SARS is caused by an unknown member of the corona family of viruses, which cause the common cold.
Yuen said scientists had isolated four virus samples from the feces and respiratory secretions of civet cats and they were "very similar" to the coronavirus found in SARS patients.
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