ICYMI: China's Wet Markets
If you haven’t seen it, I recommend that anyone on the front lines watch this video (please wait until you are mentally prepared to do so). This is the type of information that the world needs to see. Why haven’t people around the globe been more vocal about condemning these wet markets? I traveled China and Hong Kong (in the 1990s). Most people have NO idea. True, this is not a widespread practice but what difference does that make if even one market can cause a pandemic?
https://www.vox.com/videos/2020/3/6/21168006/coronavirus-covid19-china-pandemic
Why new diseases keep appearing in China
Why Covid-19 was bound to happen.
On December 31, 2019, the Chinese government issued an alert to the World Health Organization about a new illness that was spreading through the city of Wuhan. Patients were coming down with a mysterious fever, dry cough, and pneumonia. Soon, some were dying. The source was a new virus, named SARS-CoV-2, and health officials were racing to find the source.
A leading hypothesis is that the virus emerged from animals at a popular market in Wuhan. This is not a surprise for many experts because it’s happened before. In 2003, a virus very similar to SARS-CoV-2 emerged from a market in Foshan, China. It caused the SARS disease, which spread to dozens of countries and killed nearly 800 people. As of March 6, SARS-CoV-2 has reached 83 countries and has killed more than 3,400 people, most of them in China.
The similarities between the two viruses raises the question: Why do new diseases keep emerging from China?
This episode of Vox Atlas examines the deeper issue of China’s wildlife trade and how it’s putting global health at risk.
NOTE: As our expert Peter Li points out in the video, “The majority of the people in China do not eat wildlife animals. Those people who consume these wildlife animals are the rich and the powerful –a small minority.” This video explains how the people of China are themselves victims of the conditions that led to coronavirus. The virus is affecting many different countries and cultures, and there is never justification for xenophobia or racism.