China Bans Wildlife Trade Permanently Due To The Coronavirus Outbreak That Has Already Claimed The Lives Of More Than 2,700 People

The announcement came amid rising speculation that the deadly coronavirus arose within a market in the City of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife. The cramped, highly unsanitary, cruel conditions under which wild animals are illegally traded and sold for human consumption is known to create the ideal conditions for viruses to mutate into particularly virulent forms, with the potential to cross the species barrier to humans, sometimes with fatal consequences.

Experts with the World Health Organization first believed that the new coronavirus came from the consumption of bats, but it is now suspected that the consumption of critically endangered pangolins may be the source.

The viruses behind Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are also thought to have originated from the consumption of bats. Though both viruses are thought to have circulated from civet cats and camels before being transmitted to humans.

The World Health Organization has made it clear that there is no evidence that dogs or cats can be infected with the coronavirus. Due to false rumors, some Chinese residents have begun killing their pets, mistakenly believing that they can contract the virus from them.

WAN applauds the Chinese government for implementing a life-saving permanent ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals. There must now be a permanent worldwide ban enacted on the wildlife trade and dog and cat meat trade.