Doctor Anthony Fauci believes that there should be a global shut down of wet markets. The American physician and immunologist is one of the nation’s leading coronavirus pandemic experts.
“I think we should shut down those things right away,” Fauci said on the “Fox & Friends” morning news show.
He continued: “It boggles my mind how when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human-animal interface, that we don’t just shut it down. I don’t know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that…because what we’re going through right now, is a direct result of that.”
On the show, Fauci also emphasized the importance of following the Centers for Disease Control’s direction to prevent the spread. This includes wearing a cloth mask and maintaining a six-foot distance from others in public.
The Origin of Coronavirus
There are currently more than 1,400,000 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, more than 81,000 deaths, and just over 300,000 recoveries, according to Worldometers numbers.
Experts believe the coronavirus originated from wild animal meat sold at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China. Featuring animals confined in close quarters, wet markets allow for the spread of zoonotic diseases. These diseases are able to jump from animals to humans.
According to Gregory Gray, an infectious disease epidemiologist, viral epidemics are a “repetitive issue.”
“I think those of us in infectious disease epidemiology recognize that in the last 25 years, we’ve had seven or so of these events. This is not the first one,” he told the Duke University School of Medicine.
He added that we can “do a better job” of preventing future outbreaks. This is possible by looking at “people who have close contact with animals” for evidence of new viruses.
Gray previously explained to Scientific American that looking for novel coronaviruses in pigs should be a “top priority.” This is due to humans and pigs sharing similar immune systems, making it easier for zoonotic diseases to spread.
Emerging viruses are not uncommon among factory farmed pigs. He continued: “You might not know it, but there have been three emerging coronaviruses that really had a big negative impact on the swine industry, they’ve not affected humans.“
