NEW YORK (April 14, 2020) – The bipartisan leadership of the International Conservation Caucus will convene a Virtual Briefing on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 at 3:00 PM EDT to examine links between the commercial trade and consumption of wildlife and disease outbreaks such as COVID-19, SARS, HIV, and Ebola, and to consider steps the United States can take to prevent future pandemics.

Experts will present solutions, based on science, to prevent the next zoonotic pandemic.

Read the full text of WCS’s Comments to the International Conservation Caucus

For all of WCS’s messaging on COVID-19, go to: https://www.wcs.org/get-involved/updates/a-primer-on-the-coronavirus. There you can find statements on China, Vietnam and more.

WHO:

Dr. Christian Walzer

Executive Director of Health Programs, Wildlife Conservation Society

Mr. David Quammen

Author, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic





Mr. Jimmiel Mandima

Deputy Vice President - Conservation, at IFAW.



Mr. John E. Scanlon, AO

Special Envoy, African Parks

(Former Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES)



WHAT: WCS’s testimony will summarize an integrated set of U.S. government policy recommendations from the Wildlife Conservation Society, including from experts in wildlife health, wildlife trade, international policy, and communities and livelihoods, and from across the globe. Read the full text of WCS’s Comments to the International Conservation Caucus. WCS recently issued this policy statement to prevent future major viral outbreaks such as COVID-19, impacting human health, well-being, economies, and security on a global scale. WCS recommends stopping all commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption (particularly of birds and mammals) and closing all such markets.

WHERE: YouTube Live Stream

WHEN: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 @3:00 pm EDT

MEDIA NOTE: Dr. Walzer is available for advance interviews. Contact Stephen Sautner +1 908 247 2585 ssautner@wcs.org; or Mary Dixon: +1 347 840 1242; mdixon@wcs.org

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