WHO calls for suspension of sale of live wild mammals in markets



A Chinese policeman observes a civet in its cage at the Wuhan market, May 26, 2003. – AFP

Due to the significant risk of transmission to humans of new infectious diseases, several international organizations including the WHO on Tuesday asked for the worldwide suspension of the sale of live wild mammals on food markets.

“Animals, especially wild animals, are the source of more than 70% of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, and many of them are caused by new viruses,” the WHO said in a joint statement. , the World Organization for Animal Health and the UN Environment Program.

New hygiene standards

The transmission of the Covid virus to humans by this means is one of the theories favored by the experts appointed by the WHO. And in their recent report on the origins of the disease, they pointed out that a market in Wuhan, the Chinese metropolis where the first cases were reported, appears to have been one of the most important points of spread of the pandemic in the end of 2019. The disease has since spread around the world and has claimed more than 2.93 million lives.

In addition to the suspension of sales, international organizations are calling for improved hygiene and sanitation rules in these traditional markets to reduce both animal-to-human transmission and contagion between traders and customers. They are also calling for regulations to control the breeding and sale of wild animals that are intended to be sold in markets for human consumption. The organizations are also asking to train veterinary inspectors to apply these new rules and to strengthen surveillance systems in order to quickly detect new pathogens and launch information and awareness campaigns for merchants and customers.



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