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Xiao X, Newman C, Buesching CD, Macdonald DW, Zhou ZM. Animal sales from Wuhan wet markets immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Rep 2021; 11:11898. [PMID: 34099828 PMCID: PMC8184983 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91470-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Here we document 47,381 individuals from 38 species, including 31 protected species sold between May 2017 and November 2019 in Wuhan’s markets. We note that no pangolins (or bats) were traded, supporting reformed opinion that pangolins were not likely the spillover host at the source of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While we caution against the misattribution of COVID-19’s origins, the wild animals on sale in Wuhan suffered poor welfare and hygiene conditions and we detail a range of other zoonotic infections they can potentially vector. Nevertheless, in a precautionary response to COVID-19, China’s Ministries temporarily banned all wildlife trade on 26th Jan 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic concludes, and permanently banned eating and trading terrestrial wild (non-livestock) animals for food on 24th Feb 2020. These interventions, intended to protect human health, redress previous trading and enforcement inconsistencies, and will have collateral benefits for global biodiversity conservation and animal welfare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Xiao
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637009, People's Republic of China.,Lab Animal Research Center, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Chris Newman
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Cook's Lake Farming, Forestry and Wildlife Inc. (Ecological Consultancy), Queens County, NS, Canada
| | - Christina D Buesching
- Cook's Lake Farming, Forestry and Wildlife Inc. (Ecological Consultancy), Queens County, NS, Canada.,Department of Biology, The University of British Columbia/ Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada
| | - David W Macdonald
- Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The Recanati-Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Zhao-Min Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Southwest China Wildlife Resources Conservation (Ministry of Education), China West Normal University, Nanchong, 637009, People's Republic of China. .,Key Laboratory of Environmental Science and Biodiversity Conservation (Sichuan Province), China West Normal University, Nanchong, People's Republic of China.
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