Displaying items by tag: unclean animals

Thursday, 23 April 2020 21:51

Australia urges G20 action on wildlife markets

The Australian government wants G20 countries to take action on wildlife wet markets, calling them a ‘biosecurity and human health risk’. It is not calling for a ban, but believes they may need to be ‘phased out’. Although wet markets sell fresh meat and fish, some also sell wildlife. It is believed that coronavirus began in a Chinese wet market selling foxes, wolf cubs, civets, turtles, pangolins, and snakes. Australia’s agriculture minister said, ‘A market like the Sydney fish market is perfectly safe. But when you add live exotic wildlife, it opens up human risks to the extent we have seen.. China itself reported to the World Organisation for Animal Health that a wet wildlife market was the cause of Covid-19. WHO said, ‘When these markets are allowed to reopen, it should only be on the condition that they conform to stringent food safety and hygiene standards’.

Published in Worldwide