When culture causes a catastrophe…

As the rest of the world braces itself for an uphill battle,victory over coronavirus, according to Chinese authorities is in sight.  So what does this mean?  The market is open for business….

What’s on the menu?  Cat,dog, bats, scorpions, there is so much to choose from in many market places nowopening up across China after being in lockdown for several weeks.

A winter recipe involving dog and cat or Chinese medicineinvolving bat might be traditional but it is far from acceptable, humane orcivilised. 

Whilst many leap to the defence of traditional practicesunder the guise of “culture”, I would go as far as to say it is an insult toassociate such backward barbaric processes with such a progressive nation.  China is an amazing nation steeped inhistory, famous for its inventions of which were are all indebted such aspapermaking, the compass, and printing, to name just a few.

As an ancient civilisation, China enriched the world withphilosophy, culture and forward-thinking which has placed it at the epicentreof progress, innovation and development. In stark contrast to this modern and progressive culture is the use,distribution and consumption of wild animals which leads to the abuse andslaughter of hundreds of species.

As a global community it is the responsibility of everyindividual to ensure that we harness lessons and heed warnings from thispandemic so nothing of this kind can ever happen again.

To accomplish such an ambitious task we need to tackle the sourceand ask ourselves difficult questions. Why did China find itself at the eye of the Coronavirus storm andprevious outbreaks such as SARS?

The answer is simple and should not be ignored.  The use, trade and consumption of wildanimals.

The live wild animal trade in China is rife, essential formany traditional Chinese medicines, a backbone of industry and peopleslivelihood and more importantly, an ingrained part of Chinese culture. 

The suspected, yet to be confirmed origin of COVID-19 is thefamous Huanan Market, the largest seafood wholesale market in CentralChina.  Whilst offering an array of localseafood delicacies its 1000 tenant occupancy is also believed to sell around120 species of wild animals.

The suspected animal to human spread of the virus isbelieved to have originated from the rare pangolin which is on theinternational banned list for trading but continues to suffer at the hands ofillegal trafficking in East Asia thanks to the belief that its scales and meatcan cure a variety of ailments. Some of its healing properties are believed toinclude mitigating symptoms of anxiety, cancer, malaria and crying in children.

Recent scientific investigation has found that SARS-CoV-2could have originated from bats but was also present in pangolin communitiesbefore being transmitted to humans.

Whilst many diseases have originally been present in otherspecies, the use of the pangolin in Chinese medicine demonstrates how theanimal became a vector in transmitting the virus to humans.

After mounting pressure, both domestically andinternationally, on the 22nd January 2020, a ban on the sale of wild animalproducts was introduced in Wuhan.

By February, the Chinese government adopted legislationwhich would ban field-harvested or captive-bred wildlife, in a revision ofprevious wildlife protection laws. 

Previous laws designed to protect species had not had gonefar enough to address the issue, with many lists not updated in thirty yearsand several loopholes allowing for very loose definitions of what constitutes“wildlife”.

Covid-19 has once again put the Chinese wildlife trade inthe spotlight and for good reason.

As scientists across the globe scramble to find treatmentsand cures for this deadly disease, the pressing issue of the wildlife trade andthe harm it can cause to the human population has become the elephant in theroom.

For many scientists in the field, diseases like COVID-19were expected and if the issue of wild animal trade, consumption, medicine andother impacts on natural habitats are not tackled we can all expect more casesand more diseases in the future.

The National Geographic Campaign for Nature makes thispoint, like others, that if important steps are not taken in permanentlybanning the trade and consumption of wild animals, it is not a case of “if”something like this could happen again, but when.

With terrified animals trapped in cages, piled up on top ofone another, dead and alive, side by side and hygiene standards practicallynon-existent how can any of expect to see a virus such as coronavirus disappearor stop another one in the future.

The use and abuse of animals in China is abhorrent and needsto be stopped.  China currently acceptsthese practices as normal.  It does notmean they are and if the rest of the world is too terrified, due to the sheereconomic power exercised by China, to say enough is enough, then we may as wellsign our own death warrant.

This is not a hyperbolic, apocalyptic prediction, simply anobservation from previous outbreaks of viruses and the insanitary, inhumane useof animals in the Far East.

Only recently, the Chinese National Health Commissionproduced a list of recommended treatments for coronavirus and included in thelist was more traditional medicine such as, Tan Re Qing, an injection of bearbile.

The message is clear, Chinese medicine will continue to usewild animal products and if the global community does not stand up and putpressure on the Chinese to prevent this, we must all learn to accept thatdiseases such as COVID-19 will continue to thrive, spread and kill in itsthousands.

Action must be taken. Not just by the Chinese but the entire global community.  We all have a stake.

It is possible to turn the tide against this unprecedentedpandemic however collaboration is key. 

We are all better than this. Humans have managed to accomplish extraordinary feats in the face ofadversity, this can be such a time.

Economics, politics and culture all has its place howevernot at the expense of human life. 

Jessica Brain