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Live Animal Markets Worldwide Can Spawn Diseases, Experts Say

Steve Baragona

   WASHINGTON - The virus that has caused dozens of deaths and hundreds of
   illnesses worldwide emerged from a market in Wuhan, China, that sold
   live food animals, including some animals caught in the wild, according
   to Chinese authorities.

   One study suggested [1]a snake may have brought the virus to the
   market, but other experts were skeptical. The search for a definitive
   source continued.

   A price list circulated on Chinese social media showed snakes,
   hedgehogs, peacocks, civet cats, scorpions, centipedes and more for
   sale at the market.

   It's not the first time these markets have bred a new disease, and
   experts said it probably won't be the last. Severe acute respiratory
   syndrome, better known as SARS, originated at a similar market in China
   in 2002. It ultimately claimed nearly 800 lives.

References

   1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jmv.25682

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