A team of 14 overseas and domestic experts inspected exotic
animal breeding farms in Guangdong Province during the past two
days.
The experts from , Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO)
and the United Nation's Food and
Agriculture Organization, were on a tour to study the possible
links between the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus
and animals in the south China province where SARS first broke
out.
The inspection was aimed at clearly mapping the province's
biological environment, the living environment of animals,
especially wild animals under domestic breeding, and their contacts
with human beings, according to team member Guan Yi, a
microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong.
On Saturday, the team visited one of the largest civet cat farms
in Guangdong and inspected the breeding and quarantine facilities
in the farm.
On Sunday, the experts went to a pig farm and a farm involved in
exotic animals such as peacocks. At the breeding bases, they asked
in detail about the procedure of feeding and the disinfection and
quarantine measures.
They later exchanged views with more than 10 professors from the
South China University of Agriculture on the possible source of the
SARS virus.
In another two days, the team will go back to Beijing to hold
meetings with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of
Agriculture on the data and information they obtained in
Guangdong.
They will then submit a report to the WHO before Aug. 29,
according to Guan.
(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2003)