Chinese authorities will kill 10.00 viverra animals accused of disseminating SARS

Tough campaign on preventing SARS outburst started in Guandun province in the South of China.
The authorities plan to close down the marketplaces selling wild animals and kill up to 10 thousand of viverra cats, the New York Times reports. Killing rats and cockroaches is planned as well.
 
"We will kill all the wild viverra cats being sold in the marketplaces in Guandun province to destroy the possible source of SARS disseminating,” said representative of the Province Health Committee Phan Lyusyan. 

"The health caring campaign is aimed to reduce significantly the number of rats and cockroaches in the province by Moon New Year which will start on January 23”, the official said. “We should take preventive measures against disseminating SARS and adopt the laws forbidding selling and using the meat of animals of certain species to reduce the chance for SARS to return”.

The source for the authorities anger are viverra cats – Chinese doctors conducted laboratory tests demonstrating that these pretty animals could infect SARS to people in the South of China.  According to doctors, coronavirus (similar to the virus of the infected person from Guandun province) was detected in the viverra cats being sold in the local marketplace.

At the intermediary stage of studying this coronavirus Chinese doctors and experts from World Health Organization came to the conclusion that this virus could undergo mutation and currently is less dangerous kind of SARS source.

Misterious viverra cat disappeared in 1932. This strange creature was found again only recently. Viverridae, family of mammals of Carnivora species, are little thin animals with short legs and long tail.

There is no much information about African viverra cat. This animal was described by British scholar Willoby Low. According to his report, viverra cat (or genetta Low) has peculiar color: it has lemon-yellow spots on its skin, they are bigger on the body and smaller on its legs.

The latest information about this animal relates to 1932. After that time nobody saw genetta Low – until recently, when scholar Daniel Luka from the Biologists Society photographed the dead viverra cat before it was buried Tanzania, in the East of Mount Udzugva National Park in Tanzania.

Nothing much is known about viverra cat except of its being active at night and lives on trees.

Source: http://www.newsru.com/world/05jan2004/cute.html