- [Announcer] The World Health Organization
has declared the 2019 novel Coronavirus
a global health emergency.
- In the last 24 hours, we had the most cases
in a single day since the outbreak started.
- [Announcer] The virus, which originated
from the city of Wuhan China has rapidly spread
since the report on December 31st, 2019.
- The spread of the novel Coronavirus looks alarming.
Cases have now been reported in 25 countries
but the epicenter remains in China.
- [Announcer] The death toll has climbed to above 1,800
and more than 73,000 cases have been reported world wide.
Primarily in China, where the World Health Organization
says people are at a very high risk for infection.
The Coronavirus spreads through human to human transmission,
primarily through coughing and sneezing.
- If we invest in fighting at the epicenter,
at the source, then the spread to other countries
is minimal, and also slow.
- [Announcer] What caused the Coronavirus?
Experts believe it may have originated
from the Huanan seafood whole sale market in Wuhan.
The market, which is now closed temporarily,
sells seafood as well as domestic and wild animals,
including rats, wolf pups, snakes, squirrels, foxes,
crocodiles and civets.
Chinese authorities placed a temporary ban
on the wild animal trade in the wake of the outbreak
in efforts to contain the spread of the disease.
Under the ban, wildlife may not be transported or sold
in any markets or online.
Legal breeding centers are also under quarantine.
Authorities said that they will severely investigate
and punish anyone who breaches the ban.
They set up a hotline where people can report violations.
The ban will remain until the epidemic situation
is lifted nationwide.
A group of researchers from the country's top science
and health organizations and universities
have called upon the government to crack down
on these markets, which they say
allows for the spread of dangerous disease.
- And the thought is, is that the virus was in an alive
animal, then it crossed into a human.
But then what we found was that people
were getting sick in terms of healthcare workers,
in terms of family members who were looking after them,
which now meant that the virus can pass
from human to another human.
- [Announcer] Loopholes in China's laws on wildlife
trade exacerbate the risk.
Enforcements on selling the meat of protected species
and wild animals is not that strict,
according to Tian Jiang Ming of the Anti-Poaching Squad.
The volunteer-run group visits markets
to report illegal wildlife sales.
Ming said that the vendors tend to hide
illegal offerings in back freezers.
Despite restrictions, it is difficult to prosecute
offenders without proof that the animals have been poached.
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Many groups are calling for more onsite inspections
and restrictions or a total ban on wild animal markets.
Siting them as hazardous to human health.
Christian Walzer, the executive director
of the Wildlife Conservation Society's health program,
believes there should be
a global ban on wild animal markets.
According to Walzer, zoonotic diseases,
human diseases the originate in other species
account for a large share of infections.
Mixing several species of wild animals
in an unregulated market increases the risk
of diseases mutating and spreading to humans,
he told the Washington Post.
If these markets persist and human consumption
of illegal and unregulated wildlife persists,
then the public will continue to face heightened risks
from emerging new viruses.
Potentially more lethal and the source
of future pandemic spread.
These are perfect laboratories for creating
opportunities for these viruses to emerge.
Coronavirus has spread quickly across the globe
as infected patients can transmit the disease
to 25% of the people they encounter.
The virus has a long incubation period
and it can take up to 10 days
to show signs of infection.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the most common symptoms include fever, cold, cough,
muscle pain and fatigue.
Cat scans of the first 41 patients revealed an pneumonia
and lung abnormalities.
While there's still much to understand about
the Coronavirus, the common flu is actually deadlier.
The CDC estimates that there have been up to 26 million
flu infections and more than 25,000
deaths since last October.
The estimated basic reproduction number,
shortened to R-Not, which represents the average
number of people who will catch the disease
from a single infected person.
For Coronavirus, it's 2.5.
Because the number is greater than one,
it means that the disease will keep spreading.
However, experts say that this number
doesn't necessarily mean that people should panic.
A higher number doesn't necessarily mean a worse disease.
The R-Not number for the flu hovers at an average
of 1.3, yet it infects millions every year.
The R-Not number is an estimate of potential
transmissiblity but it does not tell you
how fast a disease will spread.
Additionally, some infected individuals
may be super-spreaders.
A super-spreader may infect 100 people.
While 50 people infect no one.
The Coronavirus is still in its early days.
Estimates are specific to its spread throughout Wuhan.
And numbers are only a measure of the disease's potential.
Other zoonotic diseases include the 2002
and 2003 outbreak of SARS, which stands for Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
- [Announcer] SARS is becoming more aggressive.
The number of victims expected to triple within weeks.
Despite government assurances it's under control,
doctors are no longer willing to hide their grave fears.
- [Announcer] The disease infected more than 8,000 people
and caused 774 deaths.
It was traced to the consumption of wild animals
in the southern Chinese city of Gwuenzoo.
SARS was linked to bats,
which are known to harbor Coronavirus's.
But the species that caused the 2019
novel Coronavirus remains unknown.
Scientists have identified a 96.2 genetic similarity
to a virus that afflicts bats.
And a 79.5% similarity to the SARS virus.
While experts first traced the origin of the Coronavirus
outbreak to the Huanan seafood wholesale market,
a description of the clinical cases
published in the lancet puts forth other possibilities.
According to the report, the first person to become ill
was reported on December 1st and had no link to the market.
13 of the 41 cases that shortly followed,
had no connection to the market either.
That's a big number, 13 with no link,
said Daniel Lucey, an infection disease specialist
at the University of Georgetown.
Reports from Chinese authorities and the World Health
Organization said the earliest case of onset symptoms
occurred on December 8th.
They linked most cases to the seafood market.
However, Lucey explained that if this is true,
the first human infections must have occurred earlier
due to the Corona Virus's incubation period.
The scenario of somebody being infected
outside the market and then later bringing it to the market
is one of the three scenarios we've considered
that is still consistent with the data,
said Christian Anderson, an evolutionary biologist
at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego.
It's entirely plausible given
our current data and knowledge.
Experts are considering two other possibilities.
A group of infected animals or a single animal
that came into the market place.
Lucey suggested that a retrospective analysis
of blood from infected individuals as well as animals
may reveal Coronavirus's origin.
The World Health Organization is advising people
to take cautionary steps to prevent the spread
of the Coronavirus.
- Frequently clean your hands by using an alcohol based
hand rub product like a gel
or wash your hands with soap and water.
When coughing and sneezing, cover your mouth and nose
with flexed elbow like this or use a tissue.
- [Announcer] To date, there are no known medicines
to prevent the Coronavirus.
Specific treatments are still being investigated.
So, is eating other meat safe?
Not exactly.
While the Coronavirus likely originated from wild animal
meat, livestock meat such as pork, beef and poultry
also poses a number of risks to human health.
Food-borne illnesses such as E. coli, a type of bacteria
that resides in the lower intestines of warmblooded
animals, has been linked to undercooked
ground meat products and raw milk.
In April 2019, an E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef
sickened 209 people in 10 states.
In September 2018, Cargill, which supplies
22% of the U.S. domestic meat market,
recalled 136,606 pounds.
Made from the chunk portion of a cow carcass
that may have been infected with E. coli.
The CDC confirmed 18 cases in four states and one death.
E. coli that originates from the fecal matter of animals,
can also contaminate produce,
if growing fields are close to cattle or dairy operations
or manure or composting facilities.
So the 2018 E. coli outbreak that contaminated
romaine lettuce infecting 210 people in 36 states
and killing five was likely caused by animal agriculture.
In January 2020, another E. coli outbreak linked
to romaine lettuce infected 167 people in 20 states.
Leafy greans such as lettuce can become contaminated
in the field by soil, contaminated water,
animals or improperly composted manure.
Jeff Farber, director of the Canadian Research Institute
for Food Safety and a professor at the University
of Guelph in Ontario, told CNN after a 2018 outbreak.
Lettuce can also be contaminated by bacteria
during and after harvest for handling,
storing and transporting the produce.
Other raw fruits and vegetables that have come into contact
with feces from infected animals
are another common source of infection.
Salmonella, a bacterial infection that affects
the intestinal tract also spreads through animal products.
In 2019 the CDC linked minor outbreaks
to ground beef, frozen tuna, and ground turkey.
In 2018 salmonella cases were linked to ground turkey
and beef, eggs and chicken.
It's not only connected to factory farming.
Cases were also linked to backyard poultry operations.
Like the Coronavirus and SARS, some other diseases
spread from animals to humans, such as bovine
spongiform encephalopathy, better known as Mad Cow Disease.
In the 1980s and again in the 2002s,
Mad Cow Disease made headlines.
Known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans,
the fatal degenerative brain disease
was linked to cattle that were fed
sheep remains infected by scrapie.
Animal sold in wildlife markets and factory farms
are confined in close quarters,
With little room to move or engage in natural behaviors.
They often have no choice but to stand in their own feces,
increasing the risk for disease to spread.
Not only does meat pose a risk for infection,
but it also has other health consequences.
When heavy rain occurs, factory farm animal waste
overflows from containment lagoons and can seep
into local water supplies and crop lands.
Manure from lagoons releases air pollutants
including methane and hydrogen sulfide,
which the National Institute for Occupational Safety
sights as a leading cause of death.
Factory farm workers are routinely exposed
to harmful gases and particulate matter.
And health effects include respiratory illnesses
such as asthma and acute bronchitis,
chronic pain, cardiovascular complications and early death.
Studies have shown an increase in a number of health issues
for people living near factory farms.
Including increased risk of respiratory and nervous
system illnesses, heart disease, metabolic disorders
and reproductive damage.
As disease crisis and health issues continue
to surface, the need to address the treatment
of animals is paramount.
A global shift away from animal meat
could save countless lives.
That's it for today.
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