WHO seeks ban on sale of live wild animals in food markets 'to reduce public health risks'

The World Health Organization (WHO) sought a ban on the sale of live wild animals in food markets to prevent the spread of diseases. In interim guidance issued on April 12, the United Nations (UN) health agency said that the ban is sought to reduce the public health risks associated with the sale of live wild animals for food in the traditional markets. WHO along with World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has said that governments across the globe should consider adopting the guidance “urgently.”

The statement read, “To reduce the public health risks associated with the sale of live wild animals for food in traditional food markets, WHO, OIE and UNEP have issued guidance on actions that national governments should consider adopting urgently with the aim of making traditional markets safer and recognizing their central role in providing food and livelihoods for large populations.”

“In particular, WHO, OIE and UNEP call on national competent authorities to suspend the trade in live caught wild animals of mammalian species for food or breeding purposes and close sections of food markets selling live caught wild animals of mammalian species as an emergency measure,” it added.

Food markets and COVID-19

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in China’s Wuhan late in 2019 and speculation regarding the origin of novel coronavirus kickstarted across the globe, the seafood markets in the Asian country emerged at the centre stage. From pictures emerging on social media showing live food being sold to flack of people engrossed in shopping, a lot of criticism surrounded the industry of selling and buying live caught wild animals. 

Earlier, Peter Ben Embarek, a Swiss food safety scientist who leads the WHO team of international experts visiting Wuhan, has said on February 9 that they have found “evidence of wide circulation” in China in December 2019.  During a press briefing from Wuhan, Embarek said that novel coronavirus infection clusters in the Huanan seafood market but also outside the market.

Peter Daszak, a New York-based zoologist assisting the WHO-sponsored mission, had said that the team had derived ‘important clues’ about the Wuhan seafood market’s role in the pandemic. Talking to Bloomberg News from the central city of Wuhan through zoom call, Daszak said that the 14-member group worked in collaboration with Chinese experts and visited the key spots in the region where the novel coronavirus first mushroomed in December 2019 before its outbreak.

Image credits: AP