Civet link with SARS virus still ambiguous ( 2003-06-21 01:00) (China Daily) Do masked palm civets really carry the coronavirus
that causes SARS?
Despite some claims during the spread of the outbreak of the disease, it
seems no one knows -- further studies are still needed before a final conclusion
can be made.
Chinese scientists have traced the severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) virus back to a similar virus found in the civet cat and the
raccoon dog, both animals found in the wild in China and elsewhere.
[Xinhua] | "Studies on the SARS virus and the causes
are very difficult and complicated. It is hard to approach a final and correct
finding within just two or three months,'' an official with the Key Science and
Technology Group under the National Task Force for SARS Control and Prevention
told China Daily.
"Also it is hard to say which results are authoritative, because many Chinese
scientists, as well as foreign scientists, are still conducting their studies,''
said the official, who declined to be named.Researchers from China Agricultural
University have found that masked palm civets, which have been regarded as the
biggest suspects over the past month, do not have the coronavirus linking it
with SARS, the Beijing Youth Day reported Friday.Their finding is based on
studies of 732 samples of wild animals, which were collected from Beijing,
Guangdong and another five areas.
The samples came from 54 types of wild animals and 11 types of domesticated
animals, including masked palm civets, bats, monkeys and snakes.
Through an internationally-used diagnostic test on the samples, researchers
at the university have concluded that the animals are not the origin of the
human SARS coronavirus. "If the SARS virus really came from masked palm
civets, the number of SARS patients in the country would be much larger,'' said
the university's Vice-President Sun Qixin, who went to the Dongmenwai Market in
Shenzhen to collect animal samples.Sun said the coronavirus detected in masked
palm civets shares only 77.7 per cent of the genetic code of the human SARS
coronavirus.
But experts in Hong Kong said it is more than 99 per cent similar. They also
looked at animals from the Shenzhen market, announcing on May 23 that the
potentially deadly virus is caused by the coronavirus found in masked palm
civets.
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