CHINA. The World Health Organization (WHO) concluded yesterday that a hospital patient quarantined in southern China as a suspected SARS case definitely contracted the disease, confirming fears the deadly virus has resurfaced only five months after an outbreak that killed 774 people worldwide was brought under control.
The confirmation came after Chinese authorities began an emergency slaughter of 10,000 civet cats in an effort to contain the virus, which some scientists believe is transmitted to humans from the animals.
The WHO announcement was based on a difficult investigation and repeated tests over the past two weeks and fears of a new travel ban appear to be growing. WHO officials said they still don’t know how the patient was infected, and they urged China to conduct a more thorough probe of his movements during the weeks before he fell ill in mid-December.
Even before the WHO announced its finding, Chinese officials in Guangdong ordered the slaughter of some 10,000 civet cats held in captivity in the province’s wild-game markets and restaurants. The weasel-like animals are considered a delicacy there, but viruses similar to the SARS virus have been detected in some civet cats taken from the markets.
China outlawed the sale of civet cats during last year’s SARS outbreak but lifted the ban in August under pressure from civet farms and restaurants.
Meanwhile another reported case of a laboratory worker contracting the disease last month in Taipei (The Moodie Report, 17 December 2003) appears to be under control, according to WHO. “Right now, he is the only one who has been infected. It looks very much like an isolated event,” Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Chien-jen told a news conference this week.
