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

The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is . https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02. 21.20026146 doi: medRxiv preprint Wholesale Market. Laws should be strengthened to regulate and implement the strict separation of live animals from general markets. With the currently high public support, bans on the wild animal trade should be promoted, but the government must be aware of the risk of creating an unregulated black market by instituting a ban. For live poultry and non-wild animals, better regulations may be a better option than bans without the full support of the public. 23 The feasible measures include seasonal closure of wet markets, regular rest days, and banning leaving live animals in markets overnight. 10, 15 The above measures should be given priority in China and other countries to reduce current levels of COVID-19, as well as future threats from zoonotic diseases.