Why do so many viruses originate in China?

[ohhkay]

Please explain why SARS, Coronavirus and Swine flu have all started in a similar area.

Is it because the country is very large? Is it due to the large population?

Or is it selection bias?

Many other countries are densely populated with poor living conditions. And wet markets are not solely confined to China.

I'm genuinely curious, not racist.

I was just making the point that even IF something is illegal, it still happens. Sadly.

I understand your point, but my point is that at least we have laws against that. Isn't that much better than no laws agains animal cruelty at all?

Chicken pox , measles....before vacinations deadly

Some of the things mentioned are disgusting and I’ll probably never eat a Chinese takeaway again

Why are bats protected if they’re so disease ridden?

Why?

Unless your local takeaway does it, and I seriously doubt they do, then why?

China needs to improve its animal welfare laws (as do we but, on the whole, ours are slightly better).

But China is a huge place and the majority of it's people have never eaten dog meat, let alone meat from a dog that was cooked alive. Our population is minuscule compared to China's.

Even if the cooking of live dogs is your absolute red line when it comes to animal welfare (as opposed to say, carrying out medical tests on live dogs), it unfair to use it as a stick to beat the whole population with.

I'm also not clear in what way the topic is related to the thread.

Seems to me that exploiting animals brings dangers. Treating farmed animals in novel ways - for instance feeding cows ground up cow remains. Stuffing them full of anti-biotics. Living in close quarters with anything other than dogs & cats. And eating wild animals like bats and snakes.

The novel viruses that threaten us are ones that leap the species barrier - we could avoid this by not eating animals, not farming them, leaving them alone.

(Tbf, I've only just learned that the EU banned the sale of cosmetics tested on animals a few years back)

low standard of living for many, poor hygiene on account of said living standards, compacted living, eating things they really shouldnt (raised and butchered in shitty conditions).

Recipe for disaster really.

And btw, I'm quarter Asian and proud of my heritage so I'm not being all white supremacist about this

Yes, but it's still a requirement for the Chinese market.

they eat bats

Just a small comment to our vegan friends - if rice or bean shoots are fertilised & watered by human contaminated waste (which it is in some countries & some environmentalist consider is ok) there are & have been severely infectious diseases as result. Please note: I lived in another "modern" country when a child & contracted a severe waterborne disease - think like typhoid severity with a long term recovery - & Lead levels in rice etc as well -

I have no doubt the Chinese will improve standards in wet markets and the selling of wild animals as a result of this outbreak.
The advantage of the one party state is than rules can be enforced quickly. Could any other country have shut down a city of 11 million people?

I have no doubt the Chinese will improve standards in wet markets and the selling of wild animals as a result of this outbreak.

I wouldn't hold my breath. In China many things are supposed to happen but don't. Many things are not supposed to happen but do.

They are not supposed to flood the world market with fake and counterfeit goods but they do. They are not supposed to gamble but illegal gambling is something of a national obsession in China.

It's too vast a place to police these things effectively diligently and besides, their diligent and effective policing is directed towards other matters entirely.

The potential loss of face if they do nothing is enormous.
I agree, just because something is illegal doesn’t mean it will not happen, but that is not something unique to China. Laws are broken in all countries.
Ime, based on measures they have taken in my city to control the outbreak, they will improve standards.

The Chinese stock marked has plummeted this morning. I'm wondering when the government's concern for the economy will override the concern (or cynically the show of concern) for public health.

They are also apparently sending people home as the testing kits are running out. ('They' being hospitals.) Though not sure what test kit they are using as Japan are working on a rapid test kit:

www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/02/01/national/science-health/japan-isolating-wuhan-coronavirus-vaccine-test/#.XjfHFGmnwzQ

Ireland has it's first repoerted suspected case arrived on a Moscow-Dublin flight. (I say repoerted because there were rumours last week of an isolated case in a Dublin hospital.) Rest of flight given a leaflet and told to stay away from people.

Not going to lie, I don't really have much confidence in people's ability to isolate themselves. Think society as a whole is too selfish impose quarantine on a "suspect" case.

I remember one of the first things sent to my email by a 'friend' when I first got a computer was an image of a rabbit from a market in China.

The buyer only wanted it's skin so the vendor skinned it alive, sold the pelt and the photo was this alive rabbit with no skin.

We all know how long it is since we all had the interwebs but I still have that image in my mind.

With that level of thought for animals in the street, it's no shock that the conditions are perfect for the proliferation and mutation of virus's to the point the millions of people get infected.

Oh and really looking forward to doing trade deals with these people.

Because of their appalling animal welfare violations.

If you keep multiple species of ill animals in close proximity to humans (markets), skin them alive, pile their bodies up together and eat them under poor hygiene conditions, what can you expect other than animal only diseases to be spread to humans with death and chaos soon to follow?

You would think banning the consumption of bats, improving animal welfare would be a very easy fix for the Chinese govt to implement.

No it wouldn't.

Imagine you are poor, living in China, you have not eaten for a couple of days and there are bats near by.

You don't have a phone and the nearest road is a mud trap. By the time any official gets to you the evidence has been eaten.

Because they are overcrowded in the respect of humans and animals. Because they eat animals alive

Eh?

Most coubtries treat animals very badly, its not just China. The conservatives are planning to relegalise fox hunting. We test drugs on live animals including dogs routinely.

Why have we not closed our borders

To Switzerland, Belgium etc or just to China?