THE country's health authorities have launched a crackdown on restaurants offering civet cat for consumption to prevent an outbreak of SARS linked to the cats, domestic media said yesterday (Feb 14).

Reports of the illegal sale of civet cat have become more frequent in recent months, the People's Daily said, citing the Guangdong Provincial Health Department.

Several restaurants in Shunde, Gaoming, Shanshui and Nanhai cities in Guangdong Province, have been caught selling civet cat and other wild animals banned by health authorities after the breakout of the infectious flu-like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in late 2002, the China Daily said.

"It seems that some people are determined to start eating civet cat again since no new SARS cases have been reported over the past two years in Guangdong Province. It's a very dangerous sign," the newspaper quoted Huang Fei, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Health Bureau, as saying.

The newspaper said a recent inspection of Guangdong eateries by health authorities uncovered one live civet cat, 14 frozen ones and 18 frozen pieces of other exotic wildlife.

Officials issued fines of 30,000 yuan (US$3,850) and temporarily closed some restaurants, the paper said.

In another development, China banned British poultry imports yesterday after a deadly strain of bird flu was discovered in an eastern England farm earlier this month, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

A notice issued by the ministry today said all of the poultry products from Britain to China after Jan. 13 must be returned or disposed of.

Editor: Wing