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Expert warns of possible SARS recurrence
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-05-08 16:53
An expert has warned that the killing SARS (severe acute respiratory
syndrome) could recur if the sales of civet cats, believed to be the sources of
SARS, are out of control.
Dr Zhong Nanshan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and
head of the Institute for Respiratory Disease in Guangzhou, said failure in
controlling civet cat sales would mean a chance for SARS virus to mutate to
become highly infectious and fatal, and eventually lead to another outbreak of
the disease.
After the outbreak in Guangdong 2003 and subsequent measures by Chinese
Ministry of Health and local government to control civet cat slaughtering and
sales, Guanghou has entered into a "safe period," he said.
However, Zhong still called on people and authorities to be on alert against
possible recurrence of the infectious disease, Xinkuai Bao, a Guangzhou-based
newspaper reported on Sunday.
Civet cat is very popular on the dishes of the restaurants in Guangdong
Province, south of China. This animal has been believed to be the reservoir of
the ultimate source of SARS by Chinese and American experts.
Researches have proven that SARS coronavirus in civet cat cannot be
transmitted to human being at first, but as the virus mutates all the time, the
virus could be transmitted to humans.
When the coronavirus gets into human body, it continues to vary and becomes
increasingly infectious and fatal.
Some American scientists recently claimed that SARS virus no longer exists in
the nature, however, Zhong said, it was a hasty conclusion, saying he and other
Chinese experts believe the virus still exists.
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