Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, a bipartisan group of top US lawmakers have urged China to urgently shut down all of its operating wet markets as that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease.
A wet market sells fresh meat, fish, produce, and other perishable goods as distinguished from “dry markets”. It gets its name from the floors being constantly wet from the spraying
of fresh produce and cleaning of meat and seafood stalls.
“We write to urgently request that China immediately close all operating wet markets that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease into the human population,” wrote the senators, in a letter to Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai.
Gao Fu, the director of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has acknowledged that “the origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan (China) seafood market,” they said.
A wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan is believed to be the source of the coronavirus pandemic that began in December last year, crossing from animals to humans.
(SOURCE: THE ECONOMIC TIMES)
