Banning wild meat is not the solution to reducing future disease outbreaks.

There have been widespread calls for a global ban on the sale and consumption of wild meat. Following the spread of COVID in early 2020 (which is thought to have originated in bats), over 200 conservation organisations signed an open letter to the World Health Organization, urging a permanent ban on all live wildlife markets and the use of wild animal products in traditional medicine.

The risk of disease spillover has been used by conservationists to legitimise arguments about the perceived need to separate humans from “wild” nature. Since the pandemic began, bans on wild animal consumption and trade have been introduced in several countries. Before COVID, bird flu and Ebola virus outbreaks also triggered bans on wildlife trade and consumption in northern Vietnam and west Africa, respectively.

By restricting contact between humans and wild animals, such bans should in theory minimise the risk of future disease outbreaks. Yet these restrictions neglect their potential impact on rural and Indigenous groups, who often depend on wild produce, particularly meat, fish and insects, as sources of dietary protein, fat and micronutrients.

https://theconversation.com/banning-wild-meat-is-not-the-solution-to-reducing-future-disease-outbreaks-181647

A lot of interesting information.

It might not stop all new diseases or outbreaks of old ones breaking out, but I think it will reduce the likelyhood, its not just that thing like bushmeat are eaten by those who catch it for themselves but the export of it, this is already illlegal, but theres still a thriving trade.. Over all the way humans are forcing other creatures into living near us will result in us coming into contact with pathogens we have no immunity too. Countries like Canada and America make exceptions for first nation peoples to kill and eat species that have become endangered, the same could be done in other countries too.

The last out break of "Foot & Mouth" in Cattle, Sheep & Pigs was put down to the fact that "Bush Meat" had gotten into the animal feed "food chain".

The last out break all started from a Pig Fattening farm at a place called Heddon -on the- Wall in Northumberland. The bloke in charge was prosecuted for not sterilising the food waste fed to the pigs. The food waste, from unreliable sources, was alleged to contain "Bush Meat" imported from outside of this country. At the time it was illegal to import "Bush Meat" into an EU country, and I believe it is still illegal to do so now. If the world is going to stop the use of "Bush Meat" there needs to be more done to support developing nations to rear their own sources of meat rather than kill and eat non-domesticated animals.

Any outbreaks among animals is very worrying.

Ban meat altogether perhaps. I have read about infectious disease in humans originating when we stopped being hunter gatherers and animal husbandry began.

I've read similar things Minnie and that many other infectious diseases started when populations became settled rather than nomadic.

There have been widespread calls for a global ban on the sale and consumption of wild meat. Following the spread of COVID in early 2020 (which is thought to have originated in bats), over 200 conservation organisations signed an open letter to the World Health Organization, urging a permanent ban on all live wildlife markets and the use of wild animal products in traditional medicine.

A genuine medical concern or an opportunity for the anti-meat lobby?

What about both? Why does there only have to be one reason and a bandwagon? Almost all problems are complex and theres not just one solution there are many, as many parts to the solution as there are to the problem. We will keep having these problems and worse if we don't start thinking about them holistically.

If we ate less meat, much less meat we could feed the world, so much of what we grow goes on feeding animals which we then eat, it makes no econnomic sense. Then theres the health benefits of being mostly or totally vegetarian, study after study shows that a vegetarian diet is healthier. Obviously there are some areas of the country/world where it would be difficult to grow crops and hill farming such as that in Snowdonia, parts of the North of England and Scotland for sheep and goats makes sense in terms of land use.

Is it really so unreasonable to want to stop already critically endangered species from being killed for "medicine"? Should rhino's have to have personal protection teams to keep them safe from poachers wanting thier horns? Do we want to live in a world with no tigers outside of zoo's?

A genuine medical concern or an opportunity for the anti-meat lobby?

Hit the nail on the head with the latter, going by the previous post.