[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

Aren't civet cats one of the main transmitters of the SARS virus?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')NDANG, Philippines (AP) - Its origins might put off some coffee drinkers, but an exotic bean that draws top dollar from connoisseurs is plucked from animal droppings.

Not just any animal. The coffee comes from beans eaten but undigested by the palm civet, a nocturnal, fruit-eating cousin of the mongoose that roams tropical forests.

Civet coffee, which some aficionados consider among the world's best, sells for as much as $300 US a pound in the United States. Only 550 pounds are produced worldwide each year, says Antonio Reyes, executive director of the International Coffee Organization Certifying Agency.

[wzx]

This is also done in Vietnam. I m not sure what kind of cat though...