China on Monday confirmed its first SARS case since last year's outbreak of the disease was contained in July. The provincial government of Guangdong has decided to immediately shut down the local wild animal markets and attempt to kill some 10,000 civet cats before January 10, in an urgent measure to contain a possible outbreak of an epidemic.

The World Health Organization in Beijing has confirmed the illness contracted by a 32-year-old TV producer in the southern province of Guangdong is SARS.

The patient's condition was stable Monday. Those who have come into contact with him have shown no symptoms of SARS.

The WHO said there is no evidence of a spread of infection from the patient to date in China and all 81 identified contacts were reported to be fine.

The Guangdong Forestry Department put more than 2,000 civet cats in quarantine Monday. The civets came from 41 farms in the province. All of Guangdong's wildlife markets were ordered closed Monday.

The civet has long been suspected as a vector for the disease's suspected jump from animals to humans.

China's Ministry of Health has been providing WHO with information daily on the case. The WHO says that one SARS case in Guangdong is not an immediate public health threat and China is still a safe place to travel.

WHO: precautions needed but one case does not pose threat

The World Health Organization has announced that it is still not known how the man in South China contracted SARS. But the Organization says it does not believe that this single case constitutes an immediate public-health risk.

Following China's confirmation of its first SARS case this winter, an official from the World Health Organization said they still do not know where the SARS patient had contracted the virus. However, she offered 3 possibilities.

Learning the lesson from the SARS outbreak early last year, China has isolated the SARS patient and quarantined anyone who had had the province. contact with him. The WHO said the patient was detected early, and confirmed there had been no further transmission. A WHO residential official said that China is in a much stronger position to deal with the deadly disease than it was last year.

As to the culprit of the case, the WHO said civit cats are very likely to be involved, but there is no need to slaughter the wild animals in

Since this case does not pose an immediate threat to public health, a WHO team member who had visited Guangdong and been involved in the investigation of the SARS case there noted that it was perfectly safe to travel to the province.

Editor: Li Guixiang.