SARS, wildlife, and human health.

AFTER WORLDWIDE EFFORT, THE GLOBAL outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) (1) were contained in July. However, a recent case discovered in Singapore has generated additional concerns that SARS may resurface. SARS-related efforts have largely centered on crisis control. There is also a fundamental need to develop long-term strategies that can help prevent outbreaks of infectious diseases. The SARS virus most likely originated from captive wildlife (2). The first case of SARS was found in China's Guangdong Province, where masked palm civets and other wildlife are regularly eaten. Even if the SARS virus did not jump from wild animals to humans, we should pay serious attention to wildlife in general, as they have the potential to infect humans with other deadly diseases and affect human health through changing the ecosystems that humans depend on. Because China was the epicenter of SARS, the following preventive measures are proposed for the situation in China, but may also have important implications for many other parts of the world. 1) Strengthen legislation and law enforcement. The demand for wildlife cuisine in China is high, and illegal poaching and husbandry of wildlife are widespread. Many wildlife species were banned from being eaten during the SARS outbreaks, but most of those bans have been lifted since mid-August. Rural China is the major supplier of illegally poached wildlife to cities. Severe punishment is necessary to reduce supply and demand. Raids against illegal wildlife activities should be sustained and consistent. Licenses already issued to establishments allowing them to serve wildlife cuisine should be reevaluated and revoked if necessary. China has issued several laws and policies for the protection of rare and threatened wildlife (3, 4), but enforcement is largely absent. In addition to rare and endangered species, other species posing health threats should be exempted from hunting, husbandry, trading, and consumption. A separate budget should be appropriated to effectively implement wildlife laws and policies. 2) Change attitudes toward wildlife. After civets were reported to be the likely source of the SARS virus (2), they immediately became the top public enemy in China. Many animals perceived as " harmful " are actually beneficial to human health. Unbalancing an ecosystem by removing " harmful " animals can create unexpected problems. For example, after the entire country was mobilized to kill the " devil " sparrows (which could feed on grain besides insect pests), many insect populations exploded due to …