Rats beware as Sars hunt widens

Rats have fallen foul of China's anti-Sars campaign

The authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have begun eliminating rats in an effort to prevent another outbreak of Sars.

Some 10,000 people are laying down grain in "millions of places" over three days, a local newspaper reports.

On Monday China's first Sars case since last year was diagnosed in Guangdong.

The provincial authorities have already destroyed thousands of civet cats, which are suspected of carrying the deadly pneumonia-like disease.

The Yangcheng Evening News newspaper reported on Sunday that more than 10 tons of grain had been laced with rat poison.

The paper quoted the authorities as advising people to "exercise caution in dealing with rat carcasses".

Thousands of civet - cat-like animals eaten as a delicacy in China - have been destroyed during the past week.

"Basically most of the civet cats in Guangdong have been slaughtered," an official at the provincial anti-Sars office told Reuters news agency.