The civet cat, a nocturnal mammal similar to the weasel, is served in southern China in a variety of ways: roasted whole, braised in brown sauce or standing in for tiger flesh in the classic Dragon, Tiger and Phoenix Soup. (The dragon is snake meat, the phoenix ordinary chicken.) Some diners believe cooked civet has medicinal properties, such as a warming effect during the winter months.
A team of Chinese microbiologists last week confirmed that the civet could indeed produce a unique effect on the human body: it might cause SARS. They've also extracted the virus from a...
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