The teams say although more evidence links the human and civet forms of the virus, direct infection remains unproven
Scientists who have provided fresh evidence linking the Sars coronavirus to civet cats in Guangdong's wet markets have stopped short of calling for a ban on the animal trade, instead urging better monitoring.
Denying they had back-pedalled on their earlier stance, the Hong Kong and Guangdong scientists said they had modified their opinion based on new data, described in a online report by Science magazine yesterday.
Tests by the scientists showed the animals - civet cats and a raccoon dog - had a coronavirus that was 99.8 per cent genetically identical to that found in humans, suggesting the virus had crossed the species barrier.
'Our findings suggest that the markets provide a venue for the animal [Sars coronavirus-like] viruses to amplify and transmit to new hosts, including humans, and this is critically important from the point of view of public health,' the team of 18 from Hong Kong University, the Department of Health and Guangdong's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention concluded in the Science report.
Guan Yi, a gene-sequencing expert at the University of Hong Kong and the lead investigator, said: 'Our investigation clearly shows that the Sars-like virus comes from the Sars-like virus in the wild animal market.