Wuhan virus: Take threat of disease from wildlife seriously, say experts
They highlight risk of viruses spreading via both illegal and legal trade of exotic animals
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A butcher selling yak meat at a market in Beijing earlier this month. China has in recent months and years cracked down on the illegal wildlife trade. It also banned wildlife in markets in 2003 in the wake of Sars - as it has now. But the ban was relaxed then, and it was soon business as usual.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Nirmal Ghosh US Bureau Chief In Washington, Nirmal Ghosh
Governments and people must get serious about the risk of disease from the wildlife and exotic pet trades, top disease and wildlife crime experts say.
"Every time a new disease emerges, we all seem to say, 'Wow that disease came from nowhere, we didn't expect it'. Yet, to those of us working on what drives this, it is absolutely predictable," Dr Peter Daszak, US-based president of EcoHealth Alliance, told The Straits Times.
