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Expert warns of possible SARS recurrence
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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