China denies reports of suspected SARS cases in south

Jan 22, 2007, 9:02 GMT

Beijing - China on Monday denied reports of several suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the southern city of Guangzhou.

Recent reports in Hong Kong media that the Gaungzhou's No. 8 People's Hospital has isolated more than a dozen people for treatment of SARS or bird flu-like symptoms were 'untrue and groundless,' city health bureau spokesman Xiong Yuanda said.

The city had found 'no unknown contagious diseases,' Xiong told the government's official Xinhua news agency.

Staff at the hospital also said by telephone that they had 'no such cases' there.

SARS first broke out in 2002 in Guangdong province, of which Guangzhou is the capital.

Health inspectors recently found that masked palm civets, one of the animals thought likely to have spread the SARS virus to humans, were still sold in markets and eaten in restaurants in Guangzhou and other areas of Guangdong, the agency said on Saturday.

'We know eating civet cats is a tradition in these places, but we urge citizens to stop the practice for the sake of their own health,' it quoted city health official Zhang Yonghui as saying.

The sale and consumption of the civets was banned in Guangdong following a large SARS outbreak there in early 2003.

Guangdong has made surveillance against possible SARS outbreaks a 'top priority' during the holiday for the Chinese lunar new year, which begins on February 18.

Zhang said health officials would carry out more checks on train and bus passengers over the busy holiday, when millions of migrant workers travel to and from the province.

Worldwide SARS killed 800 people out of the 8,000 known to have been infected before it was brought under control in 2003.