WHO Says Wuhan Wet Market Played a role in COVID Outbreak

A World Health Organization food and animal disease expert said Friday that he believes a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan selling live animals likely played a significant role in the emergence ofthe coronavirus that causesCOVID-19, butmoreresearch is neededto determine precisely how.

Chinese authorities shut down the market in January as part of efforts to halt the spread of the virus and ordered a temporary ban on trade and consumption of wildlife.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva, WHO’s Peter BenEmbareksuggested such marketsoften werecritical to providing food and livelihoods for millions of people globally and that authorities should focus on improving them rather than outlawing them.

He saidit was not clear whether live animals or infected vendors or shoppers may have brought the virus into the market.

He suggested reducing the risk of disease transmission from animals to humans in theseoften-overcrowdedmarkets could be addressed in many cases by improving hygiene and food safety standards, including separating live animals from humans.

BenEmbareksaidextensive studiesat the scene would beneededtodetermine the original animal source of COVID-19.China has not yet invited WHO or other external experts to be part of their investigation.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeohas said there is “enormous evidence” that the virusoriginatedin a lab in Wuhan, thoughhe has not disclosed details.

Numerousscientistshave said the virus appears to have originated in nature~VOA