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Coronavirus outbreak prompts NGOs to seek permanent ban on China’s wildlife markets

As the coronavirus outbreak intensifies, sustainability NGOs Friend of the Sea and Friend of the Earth are calling on the Chinese government to ban wildlife food markets for good – as a means to prevent the incubation and spread of similar illnesses as well as to conserve natural resources.

The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated in a wildlife food market in China’s Wuhan province in December 2019, and has infected more than 20,000 Chinese citizens as of Tuesday, 4 February, according to the country’s health officials. Beyond China, nine countries or regions around the world have reported cases of coronavirus, including Japan and the United States. So far, the virus has killed over 427 people, with 425 of the mortalities occurring in China, according to statistics shared by NPR.

In light of the outbreak and given the environmental damage associated with China’s wildlife food markets, Friend of the Earth and Friend of the Sea have decided to petition the country’s government to make permanent its temporary ban on wild animal trading…

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