• Headlines
  • World News
  • Commercial Law
  • Famous Cases
  • Interviews
  • Photo News
  • Property Law
  • Lifestyle
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
  • Login
Gavel International
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
The Gavel
No Result
View All Result
Home World News

The role of China’s wet markets in the coronavirus outbreak

by
January 22, 2020
Reading Time: 2 min
0
The role of China’s wet markets in the coronavirus outbreak
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

RelatedPosts

Spain to legalize euthanasia and aided suicide

Facebook faces antitrust lawsuits for Privacy invasion of Instagram users and Illegal Monopolization from the FTC

#ENDSARS: President Buhari officially addresses protesting youths, assures extensive Police Reforms

ADVERTISEMENT


A mysterious lung virus that has so far killed 17 people and sickened hundreds more may be the latest infection to come from China‘s wet markets.

While the definitive origin of the new strain of coronavirus is still under investigation, some of the first cases have been linked to a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Since then, people in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States have been infected. Many of those infected from outside of China never visited the market, signalling a spread.

“It likely originated in some non-human animal and jumped to a human,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital.

“In markets, or anywhere where non-human animals and humans have close contact with each other, we see this happen. Certainly, that’s what happened with the SARS outbreak in 2002.”

Wet markets — open marketplaces with stalls selling fresh meat and fish — are considered a traditional form of food retail in large Asian cities. Despite the expansion of modern supermarkets and grocers, wet markets have remained a mainstay for Chinese consumers and are often considered superior to big box stores.

What keeps people coming? It’s a cultural value and understanding of “freshness” coupled with an aversion to “non-fresh” or frozen food, according to one study.

“Wet markets serve as a space for cultivating relationships between consumers and their food, and trust between food vendors and consumers, which, in turn, provides assurances of freshness,” the study explains.

While in some Chinese cities, they’re deemed “outdated, disorderly and unsanitary” by local governments, they are “likely to remain key elements in the retail food landscape of China,” according to the study.

But the narrow, crowded markets — brimming with everything from freshly caught fish to live poultry and reptiles — are “a breeding ground” for new and dangerous infections, said Evangelyn Alocilja, a professor and researcher of biosystems at Michigan State University.

The close contact between humans and a wide array of live animals makes it easier for viruses to jump between species, she said.

“Animals harbour the virus. It’s a jump from animals to humans, but it’s similar to human-to-human transmission, too, in that somehow, you need fluid or some way for the person to get in contact with it,” Alocilja told Global News by phone. “It’s like this anytime there’s an open market that’s not properly sterilized.”

Official measures were put in place to keep the food security risk at bay after the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2002-03. The outbreak was pinpointed to a raccoon-like animal  — a delicacy in southern China — being sold at markets. China was criticized for slow action on SARS, which ultimately killed hundreds and infected thousands globally.


Source link

Like this:

Like Loading...
You should also READ  George Floyd protests: Canadians living in the U.S. say rioting causing angst and unrest
Tags: Chinachina SARSchina viruscontagioncorona virusCoronaviruscoronavirus symptomsHealthSARSScienceVirusvirus in Chinawhat is coronavirusWorldwuhanwuhan market

Next Post
U.S. proposal seeks to limit types of emotional support animals allowed on flights

U.S. proposal seeks to limit types of emotional support animals allowed on flights

Discussion about this post

Trending News

  • EFCC Arraigns Dutch Couple for $330,000 Oil Vessel Fraud March 3, 2021
  • Man to die by hanging for killing two year old boy March 2, 2021
  • Two Internet Fraudsters Bag Two Years Jail Term in Warri March 1, 2021
  • France’s former President, Sarkozy, bags one year jail term for corruption March 1, 2021
  • Nigerian Victim to Testify at Gambia Truth Commission  March 1, 2021
The Gavel

© 2020 Gavel International - Powered by Realdata.

Navigate Site

  • Headlines
  • World News
  • Commercial Law
  • Famous Cases
  • Interviews
  • Photo News
  • Property Law
  • Lifestyle

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Court rejects duress claim by Ondo PDP chairman in N500m fraud case
  • Newsletter
  • Welcome to The Gavel

© 2020 Gavel International - Powered by Realdata.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add The Gavel to your Homescreen!

Add
%d bloggers like this: