Civet cats are believed to be the source of the killer virus

GUANGZHOU , China , May 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Researchers in southern China who traced the virus that causes SARS to the endangered civet cat said SARS antibodies were found in traders of wild animals who did not develop symptoms of the disease.

Researchers found SARS antibodies in five traders of wild animals, but none of them developed any of the flu-like symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted as saying He Yaqing, deputy director of the Shenzhen Center for Disease Control (CDC).

"This could be a very significant step if accurate," World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman in Beijing Bob Dietz told AFP.

"It means that we could be closer in finding the link between animals and humans that has always been suspected, but it is still not sure if these findings will help lead to a cure for SARS."

The findings suggest that the form of the SARS-associated coronavirus suspected to have jumped from either the civet cat or the raccoon dog to humans was actually less lethal than the SARS coronavirus transmitted among humans that has gone on to kill more than 700 and infected more than 8,000 worldwide.

After jumping from animals, the SARS virus mutated and became more lethal to humans, the researcher said.

Genetic studies showed that the coronavirus isolated in wild animals had 29 more nucleotides than were found in some SARS patients in southern China , it said.

"The survey of wild animal traders with SARS antibodies shows that these traders once had SARS," but became infected without knowing it and cured themselves without ever manifesting clear symptoms the report said.

The CDC, however, did not say how many traders were tested for SARS antibodies, nor was it clear if the traders were a source of transmission of the global SARS epidemic.

Dietz said the findings were likely to support theories that such wild animal traders were indeed early spreaders of the pneumonia-like respiratory illness.

Of the five traders, four worked with rabbits, cats and other wild animals, while one of them worked with poultry and other wild birds, the report said.

Meanwhile, other researchers have suspected that a new strain of the coronavirus, long known as a cause of the common cold, was the source of the SARS epidemic. On Friday they announced a nearly 100 percent similarity between the SARS coronavirus and one found in civet cats and raccoons.

If the findings were accurate they would likely have widespread repercussions in how wild animals are bred, butchered and sold in southern China .

The civet cat ranked as the second most popular "exotic" animal eaten by Hong Kong Chinese in a 1996 survey conducted by animal rights group Traffic East Asia. The cat ranked behind snake and ahead of the pangolin, a scaly anteater-like mammal with a long, tapering tail.

China has been the worst hit country by the SARS epidemic with over 300 fatalities and more than 5,300 cases, including 16 new infections and seven more deaths reported Sunday.