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Chris Packham has blasted wet markets amid the coronavirus outbreak.

It has been suggested that Covid-19 originated from a wet market in Wuhan, China, and has gone on to affect many around the world – with the UK death toll rising to 1,789.

And, appearing on the ITV series via video-link, the nature expert urged officials to close wet markets for good.

‘It’s tragically insane,’ the 58-year-old told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, as he opened up about the link to wet markets and pangolins.


‘One of the species that has been linked to corona is pangolins.

‘The pangolin, this scaled mammal… A very attractive, attractive, unusual, benign creature, is one of the most trafficked animal in the world.

Chris Packham has blasted wet markets amid the coronavirus pandemic (Picture: ITV)

‘They’re being brought from all over Africa and parts of the Far East where they’re being mixed with species from other parts of the world that would normally never meet.’



A wet markets is a bunch of stalls selling fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as live fish, chicken and other meat – with melting ice used to preserve the produce.

According to Reuters, they have come under even more scrutiny after coronavirus was initially linked to a market.

However, despite being briefly closed during the pandemic, it has been reported that some are reopening now.

Pangolins are considered a delicacy in China and their scales are used in traditional medicine (Picture: AFP)

‘When they’re moving, it’s not just the pangolins, it’s all of the natural pathogens it has inside of it,’ Chris continued.

‘Viruses and bacteria which these species have evolved to deal with over millions of years.

‘From their point of view, these are benign pathogens, but when they’re mixed with other species and get into the human food chain, we see the results of this.

‘As you’ve mentioned before, SARS is likely to have come from one of these markets too.’

‘In the wake of SARS, these markets were closed,’ he added.

‘This is not just about wildlife now, this is about protecting ourselves as a species.’

This Morning continues on weekdays, at 10am, on ITV.

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