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Now Closed Wet Market in Wuhan, China Photo: The Standard
The investigation into the origin of the scary, new virus that just made it to the U.S. is now centered on a “wet” market in China where Bloomberg News reports that the government is focusing on the sale of freshly slaughtered, unpackaged meat. They have closed the market for now. Twenty years ago, it was the deadly SARS virus (which has been called a “cousin” of this new virus) that stemmed from such markets, and still today China is “ground zero” for the emergence of many dangerous new infections because such markets are cramped and filled with everything from live poultry to snakes.
Why This Matters: Ironically, it is the crackdown on the illegal trade in endangered species that helped to make wet markets less “exotic” and thus avoid a repeat of the SARS virus of twenty years ago. But today, food safety regulations are a key component of public health protection in the modern age of easy international travel and long food supply chains. And the world is only as safe as the dirtiest wet market where new viruses spread from animals to humans and then can go literally viral. It was scary when China lost a huge percentage of its pig population because lax food safety enforcement led to the uncontrollable spread of swine fever, as we reported earlier this month. It will be far more tragic if the same thing happens to humans.
Why Chinese People Prefer Wet Markets
Like shopping at a “Farmer’s Market” here in the U.S., in China there is a preference for fresh meat from animals that aren’t properly quarantined or that have been caught in the wild, which “does make China susceptible to the risk of new virus outbreaks through close animal and human contact,” Wang Yuedan, a professor of immunology at Peking University’s School of Basic Medical Sciences, told Bloomberg News. The sheer size of the country and the number of wet markets makes policing them difficult for the Chinese government.
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer This week, the medical journal Lancet published their annual report on health in relation to climate change, subtitling it: “code red for a healthy future.” The report delves beyond the obvious effects of wildfires, hurricanes, and extreme weather events — looking at food security; livelihoods; human physical and mental […]
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer The EPA announced Monday that it will move toward regulating perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — manmade “forever chemicals” — that don’t naturally break down and can contaminate both air and water. These chemicals, found in various household products, from dental floss to nonstick pans, can also be harmful […]
The editors of over 230 medical journals said in a statement on Monday that climate change is a health issue and that its effects could become “catastrophic” if world leaders don’t do more to address it. The health impacts of climate change include wildfire smoke–which has been linked to an increase in positive COVID-19 cases–and pollutants […]
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