Word: civet
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Dates: during 2003-2003
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...Vigilance is essential. Medical researchers say there is a good chance SARS is laying in wait and could resurface during winter months. One reason: civet cats and other wild animals that tested positive for the virus and could be its original source are still on sale in Chinese markets. The virus could also be inadvertently released in a lab accident, as may have happened in Singapore. Dr. Henry L. Niman, a bioengineer at Harvard University, suggests that even now the virus could be spreading undetected through people who carry it without developing symptoms, only to become deadly again during...
...reservoir in which the coronavirus that causes SARS can thrive and mutate. Equally alarming, the list of animal hosts also increased last week as researchers in China's Guangdong province, believed to be the origin of the epidemic, reported that a wide variety of wild animals?in addition to civet cats and raccoon dogs?now seem to carry a close version of the virus, which could jump to humans...
...turns out that few people actually enjoy the taste of pangolin?a scaly anteater whose flesh is a blend of gristle and rubber. The same goes for the nocturnal civet, which has a gamy aftertaste that even the thickest brown sauce can't mask. And who really enjoys camel hump, which tastes just as you'd expect a blubbery lump to taste? But flavor isn't what really matters to many of the diners tucking into China's wildlife menagerie. "Businessmen come here to prove their wealth," says George Ng, a Shanghai-based restaurateur who specialized in cobra and other...
...With the recent discovery that SARS may have leapfrogged to humans from exotic delicacies like the civet cat and raccoon dog, Beijing has launched a massive crackdown on the wildlife trade. In the past week, police have combed wet markets in metropolises like Guangzhou and Shanghai, confiscating writhing bags filled with all manner of beast. But eating yewei, or wild-flavor cuisine, is a key element of new China's conspicuous consumption, and it won't be easy to curb the appetites of the nation's voracious businessmen and discerning government officials...
...solve this mystery and discover the real origins of SARS, scientists like Dr. Yi, the energetic microbiologist who plucked some of the civets from Shenzhen food markets himself by grabbing the slippery cats by the feet, will continue testing animals in the province, widening the net to other species. "The sampling work is very hard and difficult," Yi says. "This could take years and years." One animal they may have trouble finding is the civet. Chinese police have cracked down, and the civet cages were all empty at Guangzhou's sprawling Sinyuan market over the weekend...