SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – A new coronavirus spreading from the city of Wuhan has put a spotlight on China’s poorly regulated wild animal trade – driven by relentless demand for exotic delicacies and ingredients for traditional medicine. China’s markets, where wild and often poached animals are packed together, have been described as a breeding ground for disease and an incubator for a multitude of viruses to evolve and jump the species barrier to humans. “The origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan seafood market,” Gao Fu, director of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a briefing.
