Public Exposure to Live Animals, Behavioural Change, and Support in Containment Measures in response to COVID-19 Outbreak: a population-based cross sectional survey in China

Zhiyuan Hou; Leesa Lin; Liang Lu; Fanxing Du; Mengcen Qian; Yuxia Liang; Juanjuan Zhang; Hongjie Yu

Early in December 2019, several pneumonia cases caused by the novel coronavirus (now known as were first reported in Wuhan city, China. [1] [2] [3] The majority of the earliest cases were epidemiologically traced to the local Huanan (Southern China) Seafood Wholesale Market, where some wild animals were sold. [1] [2] [3] [4] On Jan 26, novel coronavirus was detected in environmental samples from this market by China CDC, suggesting that the virus possibly originated in wild animals sold in the market. [3] [4] This pathogenic virus has been identified as a new strain of coronavirus, which is in the same family as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). [4] [5] The COVID-19 outbreak was declared by World Health Organization as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on Jan 30, 2020. 6 As of Feb 16, 2020, a total of 70,548 cases have been reported in mainland China, with 1,770 resulting deaths. 7 The outbreak has now spread beyond China to twenty-five other countries. 8 The SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV were proven to have originated from wild animals. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The COVID-19 is also likely to have a zoonotic origin. The practice of consuming wild animal products in China dates back to prehistoric times and persists into today. 9 Trade and consumption of wild animals were not well regulated even after SARS. Until the amendment of Wild Animal Protection Act in 2016, the prohibition was firstly added, but only for a short list of the nationally protected animals. Previous studies explored population exposure to live poultry in China, [15] [16] [17] but information on exposure to wild animals is limited.