Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, in a Friday interview with “Fox & Friends” called on markets selling monkeys and bats for eating purposes to prevent future diseases from spreading around the country.

It is believed coronavirus originated from the eating of bats in China, and while Fauci noted it is “commonplace” for some countries to eat “unusual” animals, he would like to see the rest of the world pressure countries that eat bats and monkeys because what the world is going through right now “is a direct result of that.”

Host Brian Kilmeade asked Fauci, “We have to find out how this disease started and it’s believed we can say this: from the wet markets in China, are you calling — because this is the second major disease that’s poisoned the world from this area — are you calling for the closure of the wet markets that has for sell monkeys and bats and horrible things like that?

“Well, I have no authority to call for anything, but I can certainly tell you how I feel. I think they should shut down those things right away,” Fauci replied. “I mean it just … boggles my mind how when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human-animal interface, that we don’t just shut it down. I don’t know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that. And I think there are certain countries in which this is very commonplace. I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that because what we’re going through right now is a direct result of that.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent