CHINESE authorities have identified the patient who started the Sars epidemic that has killed at least 770 people around the world.

Huang Xingchu, 36, a cook who prepared wild animal dishes in a restaurant in Shenzhen on the Hong Kong border, survived the infection, but now lives in hiding for fear of retribution. Medical experts believe that the Sars virus was passed from the civet cat, a favourite on menus around Hong Kong, to human beings. A restaurant kitchen or livestock market are the most likely places where this happened. The infected cook lost his job and many friends because of Sars. The restaurant in which he worked was burnt down.

“I’m an ordinary peasant and for no good reason I got this disease,” he said. “I will never be able to forget this.”

The spread of the disease started on December 5, when Mr Huang developed a fever. A week later he still felt ill, so his family checked him into a hospital in Heyuan. After two days he was transferred to the Guangzhou military hospital, which he left on January 10. Nine medical workers at the hospital in Heyuan were infected, but none at the military hospital, where staff routinely wore masks.

Mr Huang said: “I am very sorry that the virus spread to Beijing and more than 30 countries, but I’m also afraid. I feel like an escaped prisoner. In the street I always wear a hat so that nobody recognises me. I don’t want to be despised by everyone. Sars is not that frightening. I am a healthy person again. My biggest wish is that my life can resume its quietness.”

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