Now, researchers in Hong Kong have identified the culprit - the masked palm civet, a small cat-like mammal that is treated as a culinary delicacy in some parts of China.
Virologists brought in to hunt down the Sars virus always suspected that it had lingered in farmyard or domestic animals before making the cross-species jump into humans.
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Civet is one of the main ingredients in the exotic wildlife dish "dragon-tiger-phoenix soup", for which wealthy Chinese in Guangdong province will pay large sums.
The soup is flavoured with chrysanthemum petals and includes shreds of civet cat and snake.
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"It may not be the end of the story," said Professor Oxford. "It might well have jumped from another animal into the civets, and it will take a lot of work to sort that out."
The Sars epidemic is believed to be coming under control in Hong Kong, and yesterday the World Health Organisation withdrew its warning against travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Taiwan is now reporting the highest number of new infections, bringing the total for the region to 483. Worldwide, 4,212 people remain infected with the disease
Guardian UK May 24{everyone in the first world knows that acronym. and the 'death toll' is at something under 1,000. the 'gnostic' pantheon, of deranged authority and sick divinity, it seems possible. because at the same time the highway takes 1,000 people a day. 100 a day in the US alone. but housewives tremble in fear, children worry, grown men exercise mental discipline, keeping the threat of the threat at bay. the scourge of SARS!}
