Is anything being done about how this all first started?

[ImfinallyaMummy]

I read it was traced to a market in China from a bat. Is there going to be any laws introduced to prevent anything else like this happening again? I haven't read anything about this in the news

Also, and this is just me wondering- how did they find out it's a news virus- as the symptoms sound like something similar to flu so did people start dying before they started testing for other viruses?

I had a bit of a rant the other day that ended with “and all of this because some fool thought eating a bat was a good idea.” It is terrifying that we’ve all been brought to our knees by, potentially, one person having a snack.

If that is the reason behind it all.

In a nutshell, no. These markets are illegal anyway so they are not going to stop trading.

how did they find out it's a news virus

The first Dr to notice (Dr Li who has since died of c-19) had a few patients with symptoms like SARS which I guess he must have dealt with before.

I would assume in testing for SARS to confirm it, he actually found it wasn't that and couldn't match it to anything else, thus it was new.

I'm going through various stages of emotion and right now I feel bloody pissed off that the whole world has been affected by this one thing. It's totally unbelievable.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-china-51409801

@EmeraldsAtDawn That makes sense thank you

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking I have done FFS. Not sure what the ffs was for 🙄

Your question OP is exactly what I've been thinking. I can't understand why more isn't being done to explain how this started and what measures are being put in place to stop whatever was the source. If it was these horrific live animal markets they need to be shut down and severe penalties paid. The fact that one person eats a bat and the rest of us are living like we are now and this isn't being sorted is just beyond stupid.

I can't understand why anyone would or would want to eat a bat.

@Smilethoyourheartisbreaking I think many of us have!

Are you disputing the theory that it came from bats which whilst not sold at the Wuhan market may we'll have infected other animals such as chickens that were sold and butchered there. And the 'wet' market where live and dead animals are kept in close quarters didn't help it spread?

I'm intrigued?

Very random things happen in this world. Ever heard of chaos theory? We have to be very careful not to “blame” China. That rhetoric is already popping up in international politics. It is dangerous and not helpful. I hope the Chinese government who are on top of this crisis in their own country will continue to “help” out in this international crisis. Some people think they will benefit financially in the long run. As our stock markets are so down though I do wonder if some of our key businesses need to be protected from foreign takeovers though. Some really lovely listed companies are currently really suffering.

If you have never been to China then you may not realise what the markets are like. They literally have any animal you can think of on a stick to eat. When I went there were starfish and scorpions, spiders and urchins to name a few. Literally so many animals just cooked on a stick and people walking round eating them!
They don't bat an eye lid at the animals on them (no pun intended) so I'm not surprised if it has either come from someone eating a bat or the bat infected another animal.

The virus spread quickly because nothing has been done when it reached UK.

ditto not everyone can access or afford the foods we have here in the UK. Likewise, some foods are socially unacceptable here but they aren't elsewhere.

vCJD came from poor standards in UK farming/food processing, swine flu from the US pig farming industry. Yes, measures should be taken, but don't think banning the world from eating bats will stop this happening again.

True but usually meat is more expensive wherever you go in the world. A lot of people in poorer countries are involuntarily vegan as they can't afford meats. I doubt this person had no choice but to eat a bat.

If you have seen the videos from Wuhan Market (or so I am to believe their market) it is easy to understand how a virus has come about. The most vile thing I have ever seen and never wish to see again. As others have said literally any animal on a stick, tones of bats and rats, snake and dead and alive dogs and cats. Incredibly difficult to watch but suppose normal in other cultures. I hope this brings about change.

The bubonic plague travelled on a flee on a rat on a ship, Italy hit hard first. And then untold death. Here we have a bat and planes.

But yes they changed the law I believe.

I didn't believe it came from the wet market in the first place anyway. And then the first British guy who caught it in Wuhan said that what was reported about what was on sale at the wet market was rubbish, he had been shopping there for months and it sold fish.
I firmly believe we need to remember how secretive the Chinese government is. That's why when they told their country to lockdown and not come out until they said so, they did without question.
They control everything out there and there are harsh penalties for not doing what you're told.
I genuinely believe this was man made by them.i don't think it was intended to go how far it has or end up in other countries, but I do think it was engineered to remove some of the population in China amongst the old and infirm. They already control the birthrate so why not the deathrate?
It will never fully come out though, the poor doc someone mentioned upthread was originally arrested and made to sign a document saying he made up his WhatsApp warning, and then within days a fit young male dies conveniently of CV.
My neighbours are Chinese nationals, they said people don't realise what it likes to live there if you're not from a respected or rich family, they work everyone to the bone and control every aspect of your lives. It's why the students who rioted was such a shock to the government out there.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30350-0/fulltext

Zoonotic viruses are dangerous. This current Coronavirus scare is frightening for everyone on so many levels, health/pyschology/economically/social unrest etc.
Let's hope we come out of this in the best possible way. On some levels, there will be benefits when we come out the other end and learn some lessons. Some countries have been very quick to respond and follow WHO guidance to the letter. Others (like most of Western Europe) have not. There has been immense pressure on China to ban meat markets for good now. However, dangerous zoonotic diseases have not just come from meat markets.

@BiBiBirdie, the population of China is 1.386 billion. Deaths from C19 there are currently at 3,237. If this was a population control tactic on the part of the Chinese government, it's been highly ineffective.

There is another thread on this. Scientists don’t think it came from eating a bat, they think it came from eating something a bat had infected.

The suspicion is it was a pangolin, the scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine, and the animal itself also sometimes consumed once the scales removed.

It is actually Illegal in China to trade in pangolin, but apparently there is a huge black market.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/tip-of-the-iceberg-is-our-destruction-of-nature-responsible-for-covid-19-aoe

That’s why they are developing a vaccine to prevent viruses jumping from humans to animals.