SARS virus carried by more than cevits
GUANGZHOU, China, April 17 (UPI) -- Chinese scientists have found the coronavirus that causes SARS, believed to be found in civets, was also found in foxes, hedgeshrews and cats.
The Guangzhou Evening News reported Saturday Lin Jinyan, the leader of a SARS control research team, reported at a conference in Guangzhou, China, that civets weren't the only animal to carry the virus.
The team had tested thousands of people carrying severe acute respiratory syndrome antibodies in 16 cities in Guangdong Province and found among 994 people working in animal markets, 10.6 percent carried positive antibodies, but only 3.25 percent of those working with civet cats tested positive.
The scientists then tested other animals and found foxes, hedgeshrews and cats carried the SARS coronavirus.
World Health Organization experts said on Jan. 16 SARS or a SARS-like coronavirus was carried in civet cats, which infected people via animal markets, said Xinhua, China's main government-run news agency.
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