Closure of wildlife markets ‘crucial’ to stem pandemics

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Closure of high-risk wildlife markets is “crucial” to preventing future pandemics, according to an international environmental group.

"As we rightly focus our efforts now on the health and safety of the most vulnerable among us, we also need to reassess how we prevent or reduce the risk of viruses and other diseases passing from animals to humans," World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a statement on Thursday.

Reiterating the WHO's report that points out animals as a source of the coronavirus, the group stressed that, illegal wildlife markets provide a fertile environment for viral diseases such as the COVID-19 from other animals and infect people.

Rethinking our relationship with nature is a crucial part to prevent further pandemics, WWF added, referring to "tragic impacts" of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since COVID-19 appeared last December, environmentalists and wildlife advocates pointed out the wildlife consumption as well as human-nature conflict, such as deforestation, as the source of the coronavirus like pandemics.

Following the pandemic, some countries, including Vietnam, Ghana and China, took steps on the restriction of wildlife markets and consumption.

Since appearing in China last December, the virus has spread to at least 184 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center.

Nearly 1.5 million cases have been reported worldwide, with nearly 90,000 deaths, and almost 337,000 recoveries.