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Coronavirus: in Gabon, pangolins withdrawn from meat markets

2020-03-18T12:52:23.185Z


Could Covid-19 save the pangolin? In Libreville, sellers of bushmeat (literally bushmeat) have started to remove shelled pholidote carcasses from their stalls.


Little-known until recently by the general public, the pangolin is nevertheless the most poached animal in the world - far ahead of elephants and rhinos. Very popular in Africa and Asia for its meat, its scales are also used in traditional Chinese medicine. Quickly after the Covid-19 epidemic broke out in Wuhan city, many scientific journals pointed to pangolin as a possible disease-causing animal.

Read also: Coronavirus: the pangolin, a victim with the air of a culprit

As a result, the Libreville street hawkers have lost their best customers in recent weeks. "We have been eating pangolin for years - don't bring the disease home," said one woman, speaking as a spokesperson for these makeshift butchers. Many Chinese nationals have indeed stopped coming to stock up on meat and pangolin scales.

Temporary measures

If the anecdote might seem encouraging, it is still far too early to see a real effect of the Covid-19 epidemic on the illegal trafficking of protected species. China has indeed implemented a ban on the import and consumption of wildlife after the start of the epidemic - but it is only temporary for the moment and only concerns the food aspect of the problem. The consumption, for example, of pangolin scales, tiger bones or rhinoceros horn powder is still legal.

Unproven responsibility

While scientists have been quick to point the finger at pangolin as a possible disease-enhancing host, recent studies show that the solution would not be as simple. The prestigious journal Nature , which produced the first paper evoking the pangolin in early February, recently published a new article.

"Researchers at the University of Guangzhou had suggested pangolin as an animal source of the disease at a press conference on February 7," said the author. They then mentioned a 99% genetic correspondence between a coronavirus taken from pangolins from a market in Wuhan and that circulating in infected patients. "

In fact, other studies later carried out by different groups, in China and around the world, found correspondences ranging from 85.5% and 92.4%. By comparison, in the case of SARS in 2003, the correspondence with a virus found in civet rose to 99.8%. For now, the strongest track for scientists remains that of the bat, also widely consumed in China, and with which the coronavirus present in humans corresponds to 96%.

Coronavirus proliferation

Like SARS, therefore, but also like MERS, West Nile fever or even HIV, Covid-19 is a zoonosis: a disease that can jump from animal to man. For 20 years observers specializing in these viruses have alerted the proliferation of this kind of disease due to the increase in the exploitation of animal species in tropical areas of the planet (Africa, South America, Southeast Asia East). But until then, the measures taken by the various governments have not been enough to stem the consumption habits of a population with unbridled population growth and always thirsty for protein.

Read also: Coronavirus: the trade in wild animals temporarily prohibited

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Read also: The rhino and the pangolin, sad stars of animal trafficking

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-03-18

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