Will the global coronavirus pandemic shake up the habits and customs of certain countries?
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday called for the worldwide suspension of the sale of live wild mammals in food markets, because of the significant risks of transmission to humans of new infectious diseases.
"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," WHO said in a joint statement with the World Organization for Animal Health and the UN Environmental Program.
Mode of transmission observed during the deadly coronavirus epidemics in 2002 and 2012. Iconography
Wuhan market in sight
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 killed more than 2.93 million, according to an AFP count stopped on Monday.
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Even if the debates concerning the origin of the coronavirus are not settled and sometimes feed all kinds of fantasies, the most commonly accepted thesis remains that of a wild animal sold on a market in Wuhan and then consumed.
A practice that the capital of Hubei province has decided to ban, since local authorities issued an order in May 2020 officially banning the consumption of wild animals.
The rule is in effect for a period of five years.
Strengthen surveillance systems
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.
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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.
