Wildlife Meat Likely Caused The Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

Although neither the species that served as the reservoir for coronavirus/COVID-19 nor the intermediate species involved in its transmission have been definitively identified through genetic sequencing and other methods, it is the consensus of world scientific opinion that the spread of this zoonosis to humans was only made possible through the slaughtering and selling of various wildlife meats in close proximity, as occurred at the now-shuttered Huan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China — believed, with near certainty, to be the source of the outbreak.



Both bats and pangolins are prime suspects in the chain of animal-human transmission, sharing more than 90% of genetic material with the novel coronavirus, although cause-and-effect — and which animal ultimately transmitted the virus to the first infected human — are as of now unclear (snakes, pigs, and civets are all postulated to have been intermediaries).



There is a high chance that the coronavirus will be the worst pandemic to face humanity since — at least — the Spanish Flu.

Although the novel coronavirus is remarkable for both its contagion and morality, sadly, history is in fact only repeating itself.

Wildlife Wet Markets Are The Likely Source of All Major Virus Pandemics In The Last Century — And They Are Likely Harboring The Next Deadly Virus



The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, which began in 2013, is also speculated to have been originally transmitted by bats (who are known to be especially important reservoirs of virulent viruses, including Nipah, to which humans have not yet developed immunity.)

Like the novel coronavirus, SARS is speculated to have begun in a Chinese wet market selling wildlife meat.

(An important distinction: wet markets refer to markets in which perishable items such as fresh meat are sold; some definitions state that wet markets have to contain both live and dead animals; in any event, the vast majority of wet markets in the world do not trade in wildlife meat; thus wildlife meat, rather than wet markets, are the target of this petition.)

To quote Aylin Woodward for Business Insider: "In the past 45 years, at least three other pandemics (besides SARS) have been traced back to bats. The creatures were the original source of Ebola ... Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, better known as MERS, which can be found in 28 countries ... and the Nipah virus, which has a 78% fatality rate."

The Chinese Government Has Repeatedly Reneged On Its Duty To Shutter These Markets And Its Commitments Are Unreliable

Banning the sale of wildlife meat — especially bat meat — would seem like an obvious solution that should have been taken immediately after the outbreak of SARS-1, nearly 13 years ago.

So why was the Wuhan Meat Market doing a thriving business in bat and pangolin meat when the virus broke out?

History demonstrates that sadly, the Chinese government has consistently shown that it places greater importance on indulging niche interest in these meats, pandering to cultural traditions encouraging their consumption, and protecting their role in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), than it does on stamping out their trade and sale on the black and open markets — despite the global repercussions once these diseases transmit and spread among humans.

(Recommended viewing: "Why New Diseases Keep Appearing in China," Vox, YouTube).

In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, China has once more enacted a ban on the trade and consumption of wildlife meats.

Unfortunately, the black market in these animal meats, and the cultural pushback against their sale, are both substantial factors to contend with.

Furthermore, even in the recently introduced legislation, potential loopholes exist which will likely allow the continued sale of these animals for TCM — pangolin scales, for instance, are touted as cures for everything from cancer to asthma; needless to say, none of these remedies have been scientifically proven.

An International Inspection Regime is Needed Now

As both China's failure to maintain a ban on wildlife meat after the SARS breakout and the novel coronavirus outbreak clearly demonstrate, banning the sale of these wildlife meats is a public health issue of global import — but also a task which cannot responsibly be entrusted to the Chinese authorities. As of the time of writing, the virus has caused more than 1,400 deaths in Italy and more than 700 in Iran.

In the era of globalization, global trade, and constant international air travel between Asia and the rest of the world, the Chinese authorities have a duty of care to the world at large that they have repeatedly failed to exercise.

Banning the sale of wildlife meat would, by necessity, mean depriving some of access to healthcare systems, such as TCM, that they place value on and which form important parts of their tradition and belief systems. Yet, this petition proposes that in light of the grave current danger to global public health the greater interest — that of protecting worldwide health — must prevail.

And ensuring that that balance is struck cannot be left up to China.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has been known to engage in disinformation and propaganda; entrusting the Chinese authorities to reliably enforce a ban on the sale of wildlife meat (and close all loopholes) without independent oversight means that the next global zoonosis pandemic is likely only a matter of time.

And that is a risk that the world should not be prepared to countenance.

China's wildlife meat trade is a global problem. And an international response is required to ensure that it doesn't continue to pose a threat to public health.

This petition, therefore, calls upon the international community, the World Health Organization (a UN agency), and the United Nations (UN):

To act together and immediately to form a commission work in unison with virologists and public health experts in order to formulate an unfettered international ban, for the benefit of all nations and peoples, outlawing the trade and consumption of wildlife meats that have been associated with all previous pandemics and the current outbreak of the novel coronavirus and its associated disease in humans, COVID-19. And to create an international inspection regime whose primary remit is to ensure adherence to the ban on a worldwide base, with particular attention placed on China.

At a minimum it is suggested that this ban should include bats and pangolins — the latter an already endangered species who are needlessly killed to support snake-oil, scientifically-unvalidated folk remedies. But the formulation of the ban and the mechanism by which this should operate should be left to a team of international experts.

The world cannot rely upon China to take the necessary steps to prevent an inevitable recurrence of the breakout of the next zoonosis.

A coordinated international response is needed.

And the time to act, for global health, is now.

Recommended Viewing

China’s Ban on Wildlife Trade a Big Step, but Has Loopholes, Conservationists Say (New York Times)

Why new diseases keep appearing in China (Vox, via YouTube)