Cat Eaters Spread SARS?!?
Yet another reason not to eat animals, especially cats.
CHINESE authorities have identified the patient who started the Sars epidemic that has killed at least 770 people around the world. Huang Xingchu, 36, a cook who prepared wild animal dishes in a restaurant in Shenzhen on the Hong Kong border, survived the infection, but now lives in hiding for fear of retribution. Medical experts believe that the Sars virus was passed from the civet cat, a favourite on menus around Hong Kong, to human beings.
Civet is one of the main ingredients in the exotic wildlife dish “dragon-tiger-phoenix soup”, for which wealthy Chinese in Guangdong province will pay large sums. The soup is flavoured with chrysanthemum petals and includes shreds of civet cat and snake.
Earlier here.