Experts at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston published a study in the scientific journal Nature warning that the SARS virus could pass from cats to humans. This study comes three months after the epidemic was declared over and five months after Chinese authorities quarantined and euthanized household pets in Beijing.
In the outbreak that occurred between November 2002 and July, about 8,100 people contracted the virus and 774 died. It began in China and soon spread, even reaching North Texas. Pet owners should not panic, however, according to the World Health Organization and other authorities. Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told CNN that it is still not known whether the virus can transmit from animal to human.
Cats and ferrets were found vulnerable to the disease while researchers were working on the proposed SARS vaccine.
The origin of the SARS virus is still unknown. Some scientists believe that animals may have passed it onto humans after contracting it from a separate source. The Chinese pet quarantine included some exotic pets including raccoon dogs and ferret badgers, after some species were found to harbor a SARS-like germ.
The WHO said last week that a SARS vaccine is still at least two years away, and that if no new outbreak occurs it might be as far as five years away.
SARS infections cause flu-like symptoms such as high fever, body aches and congestion in humans.
The study in Galveston showed that cats contracted pneumonia after exposure to the virus, and the ferrets became lethargic.
Healthy animals were placed with infected ones and signs of SARS infection showed up in the new animals after two days. While the virus did show up in their respiratory tracts during post-mortem examination, one researcher wondered whether the virus was not simply rubbed off on the healthy animals.
Koplan told CNN that too few animals were used to reach a firm conclusion about how the animals caught the virus.
The SARS virus is caused by a coronavirus, which is in a family of viruses that causes animal diseases.