4 ms·
I get that you're frustrated. But there are lots of parts of the world that eat bushmeat for various reasons. They persist due to economic challenges that last
by boulos 7y ago
I get that you're frustrated. But there are lots of parts of the world that eat bushmeat for various reasons. They persist due to economic challenges that last generations. If you grew up eating a chimpanzee or bat or whatever, because at that time you had to, you might still do it decades later even if you're now wealthier and don't need to.
This isn't specific to China. The most probably cause of SIV => HIV transmission is also bushmeat [1]. The challenge is that many regions of the world have become mobile and interconnected faster than they've removed high-risk "survival activities" (the portion of China near Wuhan is apparently filled with bats, making them an historically important food source). China has banned all wild animal markets, like they did after SARS [2], but it's important to remember that many folks grew up with an incredibly different setting than today in the China/India/Equitorial Guinea of their 1960s childhood.
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simian_immunodeficiency_virus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simian_immunodeficiency_viru...
[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-bans-wild-animal-trade-until-coronavirus-epidemic-eliminated/2020/01/26/0e05a964-4017-11ea-971f-4ce4f94494b4_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/china-bans...
- blobster 7y agoDespite what most people assume, it's mostly rich people eating wild animals, so OP has a point. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798644707/why-wet-markets-persisted-in-china-despite-disease-and-hygiene-concerns https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798644707/why-wet-markets-per...
- boulos 7y agoSorry if I was unclear: it's not that China is still a poor country, but people develop habits and customs generations ago. For some fraction of the people (who are now wealthier), it's variously seen as a status thing, something mystical, or whatever else. That doesn't change the reality that this probably isn't a habit that would develop today, but would persist without action. 60 years ago is a long time, economically speaking!