Coronavirus u-turn South Africa: Covid-19 started in South Africa claim: South Africa is now suspected to be the origin of the coronavirus that has caused deaths of around 280,000 people in the world. Whilst many people and experts included believe coronavirus started in Wuhan in China, there are sentiments that the novel coronavirus could have started in Africa, specifically South Africa.
Coronavirus u-turn
Audrey Delsink, the wildlife director of the African branch of Humane Society International (HSI), claimed that it is possible that the virus started in South Africa.
She told Express UK: “People are so concerned that they are the host species and it’s not inconceivable to consider that it was a pangolin from South Africa that was in the mix there and was the intermediate host.
Coronavirus U-turn – Covid-19 caused by bats and pangolins in South Africa
“Coronavirus could have been caused by bats and pangolins in Africa. Species such as bats host a lot off viruses, so it is possible the virus started in South Africa.”
Ms Delsink feels the government of South Africa is not doing enough to address the issues of zoonotic transmissions given the prevalence of diseases in wild animals and the likelihood of them spreading and persisting in humans.
“At what point do we say that human health trumps economics? If we haven’t learned any lessons from where we are right now, in a pandemic costing the world trillions in trying to recover, I don’t know what it will take.
“This pandemic is not first of its kind, we’ve seen SARS, MERS and this now – we need to start questioning how and what we do with animals, because this has brought us to our knees.
“It’s just worrying that we seem to be going ahead, well in South Africa, with the same policies and rationale that China has. There is a link between coronavirus or covid-19 with bats and pangolins in Africa.
“People in the game business seem to be ignoring these diseases and the risks of human exposure to animals. This is shocking. How much more money should we lose to take this serious.”
“For them, the links to wildlife are not there, as some people in the industry are saying, ‘We are alright, as long as you don’t eat a bat you will be ok, no risk of transmission and we don’t import these animals into South Africa, so our industry is fine.’”
Ms Delsink also believes pangolins could have started the covid-19 pandemic in South Africa but only hopes people will not turn against the animal because of those suspicions
Pangolins are endangered species
Pangolins are endangered species in South Africa as they are trafficked to Asia due to their unproven medicinal qualities. The coronavirus u-turn that it originated from pangolins in South Africa could result in a decrease in their trafficking.
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