The visiting World Health Organization (WHO) medical team said Monday that they have found no evidence of a direct link between atypical pneumonia and local animals.
"We have examined the local animal population and collected useful information but have not come to a final conclusion," said Dr. Robert F. Breiman, member of the WHO team, after meeting with zoologists in south China's Guangdong Province.
The WHO team has conducted research on animals, including fowl and wild animals, Breiman said.
One possible causative agent, a type of coronal virus, is suspected of deriving from animals, according to James Maguire, member of the WHO team. He added that the hypothesis has not been proven yet.
The WHO doctors have collected information about the population, consumption patterns and import and export volume of fowl and livestock in Guangdong.
No one having close daily contact with animals was found to have atypical pneumonia in Guangdong, according to Chinese experts in Guangdong.
The WHO team arrived Guangdong on April 3.
(People’s Daily April 8, 2003)
