Can pets spread SARS to people?

In China, where SARS festered for months before it grew into a worldwide menace this year, exotic raccoon-dogs, ferret badgers and civets imported into markets have been found harboring a germ that’s almost identical to the SARS virus.
       The exotic animals were taken off the market for several months, but some markets have begun selling them again, said Dr. Henk Bekedam, the WHO’s representative in Beijing.
       Because of the possibility that animals can spread the respiratory virus, WHO has suggested that animals in China and elsewhere be tested for SARS and other diseases before they are eaten.
       “We should stay away from animals who are known or likely to transmit the SARS coronavirus,” Stohr said.
       A SARS infection can cause flu-like symptoms, including a high fever, head and body aches, congestion and breathing trouble. About 8,100 people are thought to have been sickened by the virus between November 2002 and July, according to the WHO.
       For the Nature study, researchers inoculated six cats and six ferrets with the virus cultured from a person who died of SARS, adding drops that contained the virus into their trachea, eyes and nose. The cats and ferrets began to show their infection two days later in excretions from the throat, and researchers found they produced antibodies within 28 days. When the animals were later euthanized, the virus also was found in their respiratory tract.
       The cats did not appear to be affected by the virus, but they did develop a mild case of pneumonia. The ferrets became lethargic, and one of them died four days after it was inoculated.
       Scientists also placed two healthy cats and two healthy ferrets with the infected animals. The healthy ferrets showed signs of SARS infection after two days. The ferrets became emaciated and eventually died about two weeks later, though Osterhaus said he is uncertain whether this was due to the virus.
       Stohr and Koplan both questioned the results of the study. Stohr said the healthy animals were infected so quickly that he wondered whether the cultured virus was simply rubbed onto them from close contact with their recently inoculated cage mates.
       Koplan said too few animals were used to reach a firm conclusion about how cats and ferrets become infected.

       
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