Feed: Slashdot
Feed Link: https://slashdot.org/
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Title: Wild-Animal Markets Pose Rising Pandemic Threat

Link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/06/03/1410...

Live-animal markets across Southeast Asia continue operating as natural
laboratories for deadly pathogens despite warnings from public health experts
about their role in disease transmission, according to new research published
in Nature. Scientists studying markets like Jakarta's Jatinegara found that
coronavirus detection rates in trafficked animals increase dramatically along
supply chains, with rats sold at Vietnamese markets testing positive at rates
ten times higher than those caught in fields. Pangolins confiscated in
Vietnam showed a seven-fold increase in coronavirus infections compared to
animals seized earlier in the smuggling process. The research comes as
political headwinds have severely reduced funding for pandemic preparedness,
with the Trump administration terminating a $125-million disease monitoring
program and cutting all USAID functions. Scientists report growing reluctance
from government officials to authorize publication of pathogen discoveries,
fearing stigma and trade restrictions, while wildlife traders increasingly
avoid participating in studies that could reveal new health risks.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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