It has long been joked about, but the Chinese affinity for the feline species of animal may be the cause of their greatest affliction, causing more than 700 deaths worldwide, if one hong kong scientist is correct. Wired reported this week that Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, head of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Hong Kong, feels it is likely that the disease migrated to humans through the Civet cat, a delicacy in southern China. "From genetic information, it is highly likely that the virus jumped from civet cats to humans," Yuen told reporters, releasing the results of a month-long investigation by Hong Kong and Chinese scientists who tracked the source of the virus. I guess this disproves the theory about it coming from space dust.
It was also reported by Wired as well that one of the CDC researchers that are looking into the disease in Taiwan has come down with symptoms of the disease and is being flown back to Atlanta. The only other investigator to come down with SARS was Dr. Carlo Urbani who dies of it in the early part of it's known history. CDC director Julie Gerberding refused to name the doctor who is ill and listed as probable due to an X-Ray eliminating the possibility of the symptoms being from Pneumonia. The doctor and those who have been exposed to him by caring for him should be in Atlanta by Air Ambulance tomorrow sometime.
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