A bipartisan group of senators called upon China to ban all of its live wildlife markets, also known as “wet markets,” believed to be the source of many deadly infectious diseases that have spread worldwide, including COVID-19.
The 11 senators, led by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, sent a letter to China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, urging the ruling Chinese Communist Party to take action.
“We write to urgently request that China immediately close all operating wet markets that have a potential to expose humans to health risks through the introduction of zoonotic disease into the human population,” the senators said. “It is well documented that wet markets in China have been the source of a number of worldwide health problems, and their operation should cease immediately so as to protect the Chinese people and the international community from additional health risks.”
The senators pointed out that Gao Fu, the director of China’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, has claimed, “the origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan seafood market.” And they pointed out that Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, also called for closing these wildlife markets down.
“I think we shut down wet markets right away. I mean, 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,” Fauci said earlier in April. “I don’t know what else has to happen to get us to appreciate that … I would like to see the rest of the world really lean with a lot of pressure on those countries that have that, because what we are going through right now is a direct result of that.”
The senators said Fauci’s words were “true and urgent,” and “his advice should be followed immediately.” The lawmakers added that China “should play an important role in shutting down its wet markets that expose humans to health risks as well as urging other countries to do the same.”
Earlier in the week, Graham and others sent a letter to the World Health Organization, which is under fire for its response to the COVID-19 outbreak and its air of coziness with China, as well as the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, urging them to end wet markets worldwide to “help prevent the next pandemic.”
The WHO concluded the COVID-19 virus first appeared in China, and an investigative report in February found “early cases identified in Wuhan are believed to have acquired infection from a zoonotic source” in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.
Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Ted Cruz of Texas, among others, have speculated that the novel coronavirus may have originated from an accidental lab escape from China’s biosafety level 4 super laboratory, which researches human infectious diseases a few miles from the wet market.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland also signed Thursday’s letter to China, along with Republican Sens. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Martha McSally of Arizona, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Hoeven of North Dakota, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Rick Scott of Florida.
The letter pointed to a 2006 article from Current Opinions in Infectious Diseases which called wet markets “unique epicenters for transmission of potential viral pathogens” and said wet markets “at closer proximity to humans, with high viral burden or strains of higher transmission efficiency, facilitate transmission of the viruses to humans.”
The lawmakers also highlighted comments from China’s Politburo Standing Committee in February, which acknowledged “shortcomings” in the Chinese response. The Politburo said Chinese party committees and governments at all levels should “take epidemic prevention and control as the most important task at present.” The Politburo also said “it is necessary to strengthen market supervision, resolutely ban and severely crack down on illegal wildlife markets and trade, and control major public health risks,” which could stem from the wet markets.
“Despite these statements, wet markets in Wuhan and throughout China are back in operation after the recent shutdowns,” the senators said. “Therefore, we are urging China to shut down all wet markets that allow for interactions between humans and wild animals that pose public health risks. We understand and respect that wet markets are an important component to Chinese society and way of life, but we believe the current moment, which has disrupted everyday life around the world, calls for extreme precautions.”
There is well-documented evidence that China tried to cover up the spread of the coronavirus, muzzled whistleblowers, misled the WHO, and attempted to block outside health experts. At least one study indicated that if the Chinese government had acted more quickly, the coronavirus’s global spread would have been greatly reduced.
Reports show Chinese doctors knew around late December and early January that human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus was almost certainly occurring, and the Chinese government silenced medical professionals who attempted to go public. Yet the WHO tweeted on Jan. 14 that “preliminary investigations conducted by the Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission.”
President Trump said this week the WHO “really blew it” and seems “very China-centric.” He also brought up the prospect of freezing funds to the organization. His criticisms prompted a response from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Wednesday.
“Please don’t politicize this virus,” Tedros said. “If you don’t want many more body bags, then you refrain from politicizing it.”
Tedros has praised China’s response repeatedly, including after meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January.
U.S. officials and lawmakers have repeatedly raised questions about whether WHO was being unduly influenced by China. Taiwan claimed it warned the WHO about the contagious threat posed by the coronavirus back in December, but said its warnings went unheeded.
