The COVID-19 Pandemic and The Huanan Market

Vanja Bodja, Print Staff Writer

September 20, 2021

Four million, three hundred and thirty thousand. That is the approximate number of lives that SARS-Cov-2 has taken since its discovery on December 1st, 2019. Although 18 months have passed and the epicenter has been identified as Wuhan, China, the source of the disease is still unknown. While the World Health Organization (WHO)’s final Global Origin report from March 2021 was inconclusive, its research still shows a very strong correlation between SARS-CoV-2 and the wild animal trade. Nearly three-quarters of all new or emerging human infectious diseases originated in animals, including the Spanish flu, swine flu, the bubonic plague, and now COVID-19.  Although evidence clearly shows a link between animals in the Huanan market and the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, there has been insufficient efforts made to change China’s legislation in regard to wet markets. While the global community has pressured China to stricten its animal trade laws, there should be also be a greater effort made towards modifying and examining current market regulations in order to prevent another international disaster of disease. 

Following the initial confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 in early December 2019, China’s Huanan wet market was shut down. Of the 174 Covid-19 cases reported to the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System in December 2019, 55.4% of all individuals were exposed to a market and 28% to the Huanan market specifically. Other exposures reported were in contact with dead animals, including meat, fish, livestock and cold-chain products. Although the first confirmed case wasn't identified until December 31st, there were three prior possible cases of disease reported on December 1st, 2nd and 7th. Out of these three, the first case was a 62-year-old man and, while he had no direct contact with the Huanan market, his wife did, resulting in both falling ill. After extensive research conducted by WHO scientists, there was sufficient evidence to conclude that SARS-CoV-2 was 93.2% similar to the novel coronavirus found in a bat; notably, this was linked to the Huanan market as well. Although the Huanan market was not officially established as the main source of SARS-CoV-2, it was concluded that the coronavirus cases were nearly identical, suggesting a spreading event and, according to the United Nations (UN), a likely source. While this evidence shows a strong correlation between animals found in the Huanan market and the virus, it also points towards issues with  wet markets themselves, which foster thriving areas for disease.

While many individuals may have never heard of wet markets previous to the Covid-19 pandemic, in reality, they have been deemed as a hazardous environment for zootonic disease  for decades. Previous to the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, wet markets, wild animal trade, and bushmeat have all been deemed as high risk environments for disease to transmit between animals onto humans. In fact, years prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, there were hazardous signs around the Huanan market that the Chinese government should’ve taken more seriously. In 2009 and 2010, an outbreak of Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (which has a 30% fatality rate) occurred in Hubei Province. This outbreak caused an investigation of surrounding wet markets which found that 120 shops in the Huanan market were participating in live, often wild, animal trade. While this shows that markets, such as Huanan market, have been an epidemic and pandemic hazard for decades, these concerns were never acted upon until a global pandemic actually occurred. 

On February 24th, 2020, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress finally banned the hunting, trade, and transportation of all terrestrial wild animals with the intention of human consumption. While exemptions from China’s ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals are made for safely consumable animals such as poultry, this doesn’t exclude the use of animals for other purposes like medicine, fur, pets, entertainment, or biomedical research. This enables pangolins, whose scales are typically used for Chinese medicine, to be actively bred, caught and sold. Pangolins, much like bats, are also a possible source for SARS-CoV-2. Pangolin-CoV-GDC, the virus found within pangolins, had a genomic similarity to SARS-Cov-2 by 90.1%. Pangolins, along with hundreds of wild animals stored at the Huanan market, are all a massive hazard to human health. While the prohibition is a step in the right direction, it is not strict enough to properly prevent further emergence of zoonotic diseases in China.

While China’s decision to tighten its laws around wildlife consumption is long overdue, more steps should be taken in order to more efficiently prevent another incident of preventable disease. After the initial outbreak of COVID-19, China temporarily closed down the wet markets and later issued the consumption ban. Although China has been slowly opening these markets up again, further measures should be taken to still prevent a similar outbreak. Figures such as the United Nations biodiversity chief Elizabeth Maruma Mrema have asked live markets to be banned globally. As well, 60 United States lawmakers directed a letter to the UN calling for better regulations within markets where animals are likely to urinate, defecate, and potentially bleed or salivate on the animals below them. Sweden’s health minister, Lena Hallengren, is also pressuring the WHO and the European Union for an international investigation of the COVID-19 outbreak and China’s markets. A major issue within markets where livestock is held in close proximity is that they  breed perfect conditions for pathogens to jump between species to humans, resulting in zoonotic disease. Measures such as implementing mandatory sanitization of animal stalls, enforcing only the sale of pre-slaughtered meat with low zoonotic risk, and better regulating vendors who are able to sell produce would all help limit the risks that arise in unsanitary conditions; yet these actions aren’t taken. While these markets play a huge traditional and cultural role in China, the health and safety of people, the economy, and the world should be better prioritized.