Don't eat cat dish when you are in GZ or Hong Kong

[LaoMao]

Scientists find evidence of SARS virus in three mammals at Chinese market

Source: kcbs

Publication date: 2003-05-23

 

 

LONDON (AP) -- Researchers in Hong Kong have found evidence of the SARS virus in three small mammals, including a civet cat that is eaten as a delicacy by some Chinese.

[manhattanmoon]

Still wanna keep your name here, Lao Mao?

[wolf]

Just read this. They say it seems OK to eat the cooked cat, but don't buy one uncooked or raise it or kill it. I don't like to eat cat, hope my Fiancee never feed me any. Maybe now that they have this connection, they( WHO) can get a cure.

Gives a new meaning to the works>cat lick<

[sarah36]

GuangDong perple seem like to eat so many wierd things. They eat cat, snake, and even mouse! Many years ago, I heard they ate raw mouse with dipping a kind of sauces, Gee!

 

 

Sarah

[panda]

TABOO ! WO BU MING BIE!!!! SAGWA!

[tonado]

Avoid beef too because of Mad Cow disease found in Canada. Be a monk and just eat tofu and no red meat.

[Guest R2D2]

Scientists find evidence of SARS virus in three mammals at Chinese market

Source: kcbs

Publication date: 2003-05-23

 

 

LONDON (AP) -- Researchers in Hong Kong have found evidence of the SARS virus in three small mammals, including a civet cat that is eaten as a delicacy by some Chinese.

Why in the world would one eat skunk?????

[tonado]

Not skunk.

 

"Six of the animals tested were masked palm civets, which look like long-nosed cats but are related to the mongoose."

 

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Saturday May 24, 11:06 AM

WHO Links SARS to Three Small Mammals

Researchers in Hong Kong have found evidence of the SARS virus in three small mammals, including a civet cat that is eaten as a delicacy by some Chinese.

 

But the World Health Organization said Friday it cannot rule out the possibility the animals acquired the virus from humans, or that the virus jumped to humans from another animal altogether.

 

"It's certainly too early to draw final conclusions on those findings, but they are clearly quite exciting," said Dr. Francois Meslin, a WHO expert on diseases acquired from animals.

 

Meanwhile, health officials in Canada announced a new cluster of 20 or more possible SARS cases in Toronto little more than a week after the WHO said the biggest outbreak of the illness outside of Asia appeared to have been snuffed out.

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reinstated a travel alert that warns Americans to take precautions when traveling to the city but stops short of advising against trips to Toronto. The WHO said it would await further information before deciding whether to put Toronto back on its list of SARS-affected areas.

 

The Hong Kong findings were announced hours after WHO lifted its travel warning for Hong Kong and the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, saying outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome in those areas are now under control.

 

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong examined 25 animals belonging to eight species in a live animal market in southern China that supplies restaurants in Guangdong province, where the SARS outbreak is believed to have started.

 

Six of the animals tested were masked palm civets, which look like long-nosed cats but are related to the mongoose. All the civets, which came from several different owners and appeared healthy, tested positive for a SARS-like virus, said Dr. Klaus Stohr, WHO's chief SARS virologist.

 

One raccoon dog _ a member of the dog family native to eastern Asia _ was tested and found to have the virus in its feces. Antibodies against the virus were also found in the dog.

 

Antibodies were also found in the lone badger that was examined, Stohr said.

 

The results from the civets were considered the strongest, Stohr said, because the virus itself was found in their bodies, they carried antibodies and they all tested positive despite having different owners and being kept on different sides of the market.

 

"That's a relatively strong indication that these animals may play a particular role," Stohr said.

 

The scientists unraveled the genetic code of two of the virus samples from the civets to see how closely they matched the human SARS virus.

 

"These viruses were almost identical to the human virus. The only difference is that they have 29 extra amino acids," Stohr said.

 

The scientists also found that blood from the animals inhibited the growth of the human SARS virus in a laboratory. Similarly, blood from people who had recovered from SARS hindered the growth of the virus from the civets.

 

"This cross reaction is another very strong indication that these viruses are very, very, very close. They are practically identical," Stohr said.

 

Although experts are confident the animals had the SARS virus, it's unclear whether the animals are the source of the human outbreak.

 

One of the study's leaders, microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, told reporters in Hong Kong he believed the virus jumped from the civets to humans, but WHO experts were not convinced.

 

A recent study from Guangdong indicates more than 30 percent of the early SARS cases in Guangdong occurred among food handlers. Stohr said the latest findings could provide evidence of a possible link between wildlife and the emergence of SARS.

 

Experts say that if humans caught SARS from an animal, it probably came from preparing a carcass for eating _ not from eating it since cooking would likely kill the virus.

 

However, the market study could not determine whether civets are so-called "reservoirs" _ the species that maintain the SARS virus in nature. It's possible they play some other role in the chain of transmission from animals to humans, Meslin told reporters in a telephone briefing.

 

Some viruses that have jumped from animals to humans involved multiple animals playing different roles. While one species may be the reservoir, others can be what is known as "amplification hosts," which become infected by the reservoir species and then pass the virus on to humans.

 

"We cannot say those animals are the source of the initial cases of SARS," Meslin said. "We really need to investigate more the relationship between the different animal species found to have the virus, and maybe others."

 

"These animals can consume small mammals, particularly rats and mice, and those could be the source of the infection, so for the time being it's all conjecture," he said.

 

Stohr said it's possible the animals could have all become infected through feed at the market, or that they infected each other. It's also theoretically possible the animals contracted SARS from humans, perhaps by a sick person coughing into the cages, he said.

 

"We have to narrow down the animal reservoir. These animal species should be tested in different markets, that's the first thing," Stohr said. "In addition, other animal species should also be tested."

 

"Until the role of these animal species is better defined ... owners and others who might come into contact with these animals or their secretions should be aware of the possible health risk," he said.

 

In Hong Kong, Yuen said it was important the civet trade be closely watched.

 

"If you cannot control further jumping of such viruses from animals to humans, the same epidemic can occur again," he said. "So it's very important that we have ways of controlling the rearing, the slaughtering and the selling of these wild game animals so that such an epidemic will not occur again."

[Robert S.]

Those Guangdong people need to give up some of their weird foods like monkey brains and mongooses and stuff like that and just eat more opossum for something different. We have plenty here in Alabama. Maybe I should catch a bunch of them and ship 'em over there.

[Xiao Hua]

I think if those people don't quit eating those weird things, at least they should wear those animals with masks first in case they get infected by SAARS before they become the dishes in the plates.

[tonado]

Civet Cat

 

 

http://www.zoologicalimports.com/pics/mammals/africancivet.JPG

[sarah36]

Civet Cat

 

 

It looks more like a dog. A poor sweetie. What a pity that it would have virus in its body. And what a pity that it would be eaten!

 

 

Sarah

[Mick]

While living in Guangdong, I witnessed many strange things being eaten. In Shantou they are particularly fond of a type of sea worm. But perhaps the most shocking occured when, at a banquet, I was served up a bowl containing small, oblong shaped "things" floating in a pink sauce that looked like Pepto-Bismol. Upon inquiry, I found out they were "day-old mice"

 

Upon further questioning it was revealed to me that they are considered a delicacy and must be eaten within twenty-four hours of birth to insure great taste.

[tonado]

http://animaltrial.com/civet.html

http://www.monitor.net/monitor/0002a/china...nawildlife.html

 

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Wealthy Chinese Eating Wildlife into Extinction

 

by Hu Pan

 

Sold in most restaurants and groceries

(ENS) BEIJING -- Thrilled by the wider choice of food that wealth brings, Chinese people are now consuming the country's beleaguered wildlife at a rapid rate. This trend will be highly evident as they celebrate the New Year with lavish feasts which are certain to include various wildlife specialties.

As the first Chinese New Year of the 21st century approaches on February 6, many in China have reason to rejoice. Over the last two decades, the country has enjoyed spectacular economic growth, and many people have grown wealthier in a relatively short time.

 

Yet there are signs that the Chinese may be destroying their fellow creatures while enjoying their new prosperity.

 

A recent survey conducted in the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province revealed that 95 percent of the city's inhabitants have eaten some form of wildlife. More than 50 percent of those polled said they believe that eating wildlife food is healthy.

 

Shenzhen's Wildlife Administration discovered that 40 different species of wildlife are currently being offered in restaurants and hotels. Most restaurants, supermarkets, and farmers' markets sell wildlife as food.

 

Perhaps the most popular wildlife food in Shenzhen now is the snake. The market price for poisonous snakes has risen to over 100 yuan per kilogram. Non-poisonous snakes command over 50 yuan per kilogram.

Wild boars and civet cats are also consumed on a large scale.

 

Of the different types of wildlife that are eaten, some supposedly enjoy strict government protection -- large pythons, pangolins, many species of rare birds.

 

For millions of people throughout China but most notably in the South, eating wild animals has become a way of life. In Guangdong province's Nankun Mountains, numerous wildlife restaurants thrive despite the fact that the region is designated as a conservation sector. Every day restaurant workers kill many wild animals, and no one acts to stop them.

 

Wild macaques, owls, pangolins, and giant lizards are among the many different animals that are eaten. Captured macaques are killed in gruesome ways. First the restaurant employees stuff a macaque in a bag and place the bag in water until the animal loses consciousness. Next they take the macaque out and pour boiling water on its body, before starting to pull off its body hair. Another man who owns a restaurant says that he actually shows his customers how live giant lizards are killed.

 

In metropolitan Shanghai, too, a lot of wildlife food is consumed by eager customers. As Shanghai has developed economically, the appetites of its inhabitants have expanded. Historically, Shanghai residents have never eaten much snake, but now they consume more than 1,000 tons of snakes per year, according to a study conducted by the city's Wildlife Association and Huadong Normal University.

 

Over the past two years, birds as well as toads and frogs have been killed en masse in the Shanghai area. The same study by the Wildlife Association and Huadong Normal University found that 50-plus tons of frogs are eaten each year.

 

Highly endangered species, such as the Tibetan antelope, called the chiru, have started to appear on Shanghai restaurant menus. The Tibetan antelope is famous as the source of the luxurious shahtoosh ring shawls. It has recently been recognized as a species requiring extensive protection from poachers.

 

In Nanning, Guangxi province, directly west of Guangdong, the soft-shell sea turtle is bearing the brunt of the assault on wildlife. Depressed by the slaughter of these turtles, Shu Yuyan of Guangxi Medical School says they have been captured for many years because their blue-colored blood is a good poison indicator. In the past many scientists had extracted their blood in such ways so as to not kill them. They are not known to be particularly delicious, but in China they are regarded as healthy to eat. Each year now they are captured by the tens of thousands to be shipped to restaurants all over the country, and their numbers are rapidly declining.

Apart from the soft-shell sea turtle, virtually all the wildlife in the Nanning area is now gone. The human destruction of wildlife here started long ago.

 

On Nanning's Hunan Road, many restaurants have signs that assure prospective customers that the animals they offer are indeed captured from the wild. The restaurants serve peacock, wild swan, snake, turtle, eagle, alligator, pangolin, civet cat, and monkey. Many restaurants take customers to see their live animal storage cages to pick which animals they would like to have. In all, there are roughly 200 restaurants in Nanning serving wildlife food.

 

Wildlife statistics for Guangxi show that every year in the province tens of thousands of pangolins are eaten although they are supposedly government-protected.

 

Guangxi eats more primates than any other province in China, in both type and number. These primates are on the whole helpless to avoid capture.

 

Many rare birds in Guangxi are already extinct.

 

Because the practice is so popular, the Chinese government has found it difficult to effectively limit wildlife consumption, but efforts are underway as the government has become increasingly conscious of the massive human consumption of wildlife.

 

In December 1999, Guangdong's provincial government published a list of nine birds that are legal to eat.

 

On January 16, the national government launched the "South Number Two Action," a coordinated campaign to protect wildlife in the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Fujian. This is the second major operation of its kind in the history of the People's Republic, coming after the "Hol Xil Number One Action" in April 1999 that cracked down on Tibetan antelope poachers.

 

Some Chinese NGOs and citizens are also trying to modify the desire to consume wild animals and birds. In December of 1999, Shanghai's Wildlife Protection Association publicized a proposal, "Say no to eating wildlife!" This was a rare condemnation of a practice that is so widely accepted. Also in Shanghai last year, thousands of students signed a petition demanding an end to the eating of wild animals.

[Mick]

Thanks Tony. Sounds yummy!