To eliminate the alleged source of the epidemic, authorities quickly closed down breeding farms across China. No transport or consumption of these animals was allowed.

Beginning in early May, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, along with forestry authorities, have urged relevant government departments at all levels to suspend the processing of business license applications for business transactions involving the civet cat, said Wu Minglu, forestry official in north China's Hebei province.

In late May, Hebei officials confiscated 135 civet cats, and a total of 20,000 were placed in isolation in some 13 provinces nationwide.

The fate of these animals lies in the hands of the scientists who are conducting research on the possible link.

The breeding of the civet cat was once a fairy profitable business, as well as a short-cut for many farmers to earn a sizeable income. The SARS outbreak, however, has completely dashedtheir hopes.

"I would never have bred them had I known that they might carrythe SARS virus," said Gai Longlong, a farmer in Hebei's Pingshan County, who spent at least 10,000 yuan (1,200 U.S. dollars) to purchase 35 civet cats last March.

Liao Zefeng, the owner of a civet cat breeding farm in east China's Jiangxi province, was preparing to sell his mature cats when the possible link to SARS became public. "If the news had come out days later, I could have earned over 100,000 yuan (12,000U.S. dollars)," said the 35-year-old farmer, who now must feed the1,200 cats, not knowing whether they will ever be sold.

Scientists note that quarantine and isolation are necessary, although additional, in-depth research is needed to determine whether or not civet cats or other wildlife were the original conduit of the disease's spread to humans.

Analysts have also called on the public to refrain from eating or engaging in contact with civet cats and other wild animals.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2003)