China pursues anti-Sars slaughter

The WHO has urged caution over the cull of civet cats

World Health Organization doctors have searched a restaurant in China to see if a waitress suspected of having Sars could have caught the virus there.

The WHO said it was taking the case of the 20-year-old seriously, but had yet to see any sign that an epidemic of Sars was about to sweep the region.

The move came as a deadline passed for a cull of all animals that might carry the Sars virus in Guangdong Province.

On Monday, China confirmed its first Sars case since last summer's outbreak.

CIVET CAT Part of mongoose family, distant relative of feline cat Weasel-like face, cat-like body Served in wild game restaurants Estimated 10,000 in Guangdong markets May have been the source of the virus which jumped to humans China follows Mao with cull

That patient recovered and left hospital on Thursday, but his case sparked fears of a repeat of the epidemic that infected more than 8,000 people around the world.

Chinese authorities said a gene sample from the man resembled that of a coronavirus found in civets, a local delicacy.

WHO spokesman Roy Wadia told Reuters news agency that the restaurant where the waitress worked did have civet cat on the menu.

Doctors have urged the authorities to send samples from the woman - who has been in stable condition without fever for more than a week - for testing in Beijing and in WHO facilities abroad.

'Four dangers'

Meanwhile, thousands of civet cats have been killed so far, mostly by drowning, electrocution and incineration. An estimated 10,000 are expected to be culled in total.

The cull has been extended to badgers, raccoon dogs and other animals served as local delicacies.

Officials are threatening animal traders with fines of up to $12,000 for failing to cull civet cats - whose meat fetches up to $22 a kilogram.

The authorities have also called for the slaughter of rats, cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes, known as the "four dangers".

In Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, red banners are calling for better hygiene.

A WHO spokesman said there was anecdotal evidence that some civets were being clubbed to death, which he said potentially put those involved in the cull at risk.

'Plan of attack'

The WHO delegation in Guangdong has promised to leave no stone unturned.

I do not think the confirmed case means that Sars will return on a large scale Zhong Nanshan Guangzhou Respiratory Illness Research Institute

"What we're mostly interested in are the possibilities of animal-to-animal and then animal-to-human exposure, person-to-person exposure," team leader Robert Breiman said.

"And then we're interested in the possibility that it might be an environmental type of exposure, and we're beginning to work out the plan of how to attack those areas individually."

The WHO has warned there could be a number of suspected Sars cases in the coming months because of its resemblance to other winter illnesses.

Three Hong Kong journalists who fell ill with fevers and coughs after visiting Guangzhou have all tested negative for Sars, Hong Kong health officials said.

Zhong Nanshan, head of the Guangzhou Respiratory Illness Research Institute, said there was unlikely to be a fresh outbreak.

"To say it [the confirmed case] will trigger the huge spread of Sars is absurd," he said.

The Sars virus spread from China last year and caused a global health crisis, killing round 800 people and infecting about 8,000.