This one isn't for cat lovers - or the sensitive..

HONG KONG: China hopes to avoid any new SARS outbreaks with a preventative plan that is likely to include a ban on the consumption of civet cats in Guangdong province restaurants.

China's vice health minister, Wang Longde, plans soon to travel to Guangdong, where SARS first emerged in late 2002, to finalise plans for avoiding the disease during the coming winter flu season, the pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po newspaper in Hong Kong said.

Researchers say the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus might have originated in civet cats and other animals eaten as delicacies in Guangdong.