OPINION: China Banning The Consumption Of Wild Animals After The Deadly Covid-19 Outbreak Was Long Overdue
The deadly coronavirus outbreak that originated from Wuhan, China has currently infected MORE than 100,000 people around the world (with nearly 30 cases reported here in the UAE) and killed over 3,000 people.
China has been treading a tightrope with the outbreak of Covid-19, as the virus has affected China’s population and economy the most. The epidemic which was reported to have started at a wildlife market in Wuhan has rapidly spread across the globe and in light of the recent situation, China has imposed a strict ban on the consumption and farming of wild animals.
This type of animal-to-human virus jump has happened before! Previously, in 2003, the trade and consumption of the nocturnal mammal, civets (used in the popular Chinese dish, ‘dragon-tiger-phoenix’ soup) were discovered to the link between the SARS virus and humans.
Allowing wildlife animals into the everyday diets of humans and turning them into delicacies has led the world into unchartered territories
Future outbreaks can only get worse if the source of such diseases is not nipped in the bud from now itself.
Because bacteria can learn to adapt and (after making the jump to humans) if bacteria eventually evolve to become immune to antibiotics then the world will face a serious and quite possibly uncontrollable pandemic on their hands.
China’s #Hubei Province announced a strict resolution on forbidding #wildlife trade and ordered a complete ban on consumption of wild animals or related products.
The decision was made by the Standing Committee of 13th Hubei Provincial People’s Congress and took effect on Thur. pic.twitter.com/kP5XcjuyPJ
— 星空 (@busYViKU9UVvRlx) March 6, 2020
Even after coronavirus claimed the lives of thousands, today dishes serving wild animals are still being consumed in China
Banning the trade and consumption of these wild animals that can easily transfer UNKNOWN infections to humans is the first step to begin the cultural shift in China around poaching and consuming wildlife animals.
GREAT NEWS
Chinese officials have issued an immediate and comprehensive ban on all wildlife trade & consumption.
On Monday the nation's legislature banned the buying, selling, and eating of wild animals in an effort to prevent zoonotic diseases from jumping from animals to people pic.twitter.com/j7DvqgvANN— animals_innocent_creatures (@AnimalsInnocent) February 27, 2020
