Premium
Illicit Wildlife Trade, Wet Markets, and COVID‐19: Preventing Future Pandemics
Author(s) -
Aguirre A. Alonso,
Catherina Richard,
Frye Hailey,
Shelley Louise
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
world medical and health policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.326
H-Index - 11
ISSN - 1948-4682
DOI - 10.1002/wmh3.348
Subject(s) - pandemic , wildlife trade , wildlife , covid-19 , transmission (telecommunications) , geography , biology , business , virology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , ecology , outbreak , medicine , pathology , electrical engineering , engineering
Although the exact origin of SARS‐CoV‐2, the etiologic agent of COVID‐19, is currently unknown, there is substantial evidence to suggest the source of transmission of the virus occurred within the Wuhan wet market. In these markets, bats and wild animals are frequently sold and stored in close contact. During several of the world's past pandemics, bats were essential to the spread of zoonotic diseases from bat to another animal or to humans directly. Live animal markets create the perfect conditions for novel viruses such as COVID‐19 to emerge. This paper suggests that to prevent future pandemics, the sale of exotic animals be banned at wet markets. It also advocates for the integration of the analysis of illicit trade with the study of zoonotic disease transmission and pandemics.