A senior health official from south China's Guangdong province on Monday launched a campaign for killing all civet cats raised for meat in the province to eliminate a possible source of SARS disease.

Feng Liuxiang, deputy head of the province's health department, said the action had been approved by the provincial government as the weasel-like mammals were, among other wildlife, believed to be one of the most likely SARS virus carriers after genetic tests suggested a link to a suspected case.

All wildlife markets in Guangdong were ordered to close, while prompt measures would be taken to stop the entry of civet cats raised outside Guangdong.

Some 10,000 civet cats in wildlife markets would be culled in the campaign, Feng estimated.

The SARS epidemic, which had emerged in Guangdong province in late 2002, spread to Beijing, Shanghai and elsewhere in China from late spring and ensuing summer in 2003. 

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2004)