As the death toll and economic cost of the COVID-19 crisis mounts, calls are mounting to ban the trade in wild animals for human consumption, believed to have sparked the pandemic. It is born out of a pressing concern: How to prevent another pandemic like COVID-19? The novel coronavirus has infected more than 2 million people, claimed more than 140,000 lives, and could deal a $9 trillion blow to the global economy in just the next two years.
On April 15, Chris Walzer, head of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s wildlife health program, called for an immediate and permanent ban on the commercial trade of wildlife for human consumption, at a briefing of the U.S. Congress’s International Conservation Caucus.
https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/how-to-prevent-the-next-covid-19-conservationists-weigh-in/