China's southern Guangdong Province has launched a campaign to clear out any remaining civet cats sales in restaurants, as the species has been linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome disease, Guangzhou-based Information Times reported today.

Any restaurant found selling civet cats will have their business license withdrawn, Guangdong Sanitation Office said yesterday.

The office has opened up 22 tip hotlines in major cities in the province and will increase the tipster reward to 1,000 yuan (US$129) to encourage people to report anyone selling the species.

The office has already seized one civet cat, 14 frozen ones and 22 kilograms of the feline's meat after sending several inspection teams across the province, including cities in Zhujiang River Delta Area, Huang Fei, an official of the sanitation office, said at a meeting centered on the crackdown yesterday.

The sanitation authority also reiterated that no outbreak of SARS or bird flu has led to hospitalizations in the province so far this year.

Since the cause of SARS remains unclear, people should be aware of the possibility that the disease may come back again this winter or during the spring time next year, Luo Huiming, the head of the Guangdong Research Center for Disease and Epidemic Control and Prevention, said yesterday.

Civet cats are a delicacy for some people in south China but researchers said they have found civet cats that tested positive for the SARS virus.

According to researchers, SARS can spread to humans if they consume infected civet cats.

An epidemic of SARS hit China in 2003 and thousands of Chinese died from the disease, with symptoms of coughing and unexplained fever. Guangdong Province was one of the worst-hit places in the epidemic and was said to be the place where the disease was first found in China.

Guangdong Province has banned any breeding, selling or slaughtering of civet cats since January 2004. It also prohibits restaurants from selling dishes made from the animal since the SARS outbreak.

Editor: Yan