# 5886
A decade ago `wild flavor’ restaurants were the rage in mainland China, most particularly in Guangzhou Province. Diners there could indulge in exotic dishes – often slaughtered and cooked tableside - including dog, cat, civit, muskrat, ferret, monkey, along with a variety of snakes, reptiles, and birds.
What are commonly referred to as `bushmeat’.
It was from this practice that the SARS is believed to have emerged, when kitchen workers apparently became infected while preparing wild animals for consumption.
Before SARS burned out, more than 8,000 people were infected around the globe and at least 800 died.
In the aftermath of the SARS epidemic – at least for a time – Chinese authorities cracked down on many of these `wild flavor’ establishments, although some reportedly still flourish in parts of China.
In Africa consumption of bushmeat is common, and often ends up illegally imported into the United States, Canada, and the European Union.
In recent years we’ve seen an increase in the number of outbreaks of Monkeypox in central and western Africa, and even a rare outbreak in the United States in 2003 when an animal distributor imported hundreds of small animals from Ghana, which in turn infected prairie dogs that were subsequently sold to the public (see MMWR Update On Monkeypox 2003)
(Photo Credit CDC PHIL)
While dubbed `monkeypox’, this less lethal cousin to smallpox is probably more commonly found in rodents than in monkeys. Both of which are often targets of bushmeat hunters.
No vaccine is available for monkeypox, but the smallpox vaccination is said to reduce the risk of infection.
Earlier this year the British papers were filled with reports of `bushmeat’ being sold in the UK. A couple of links to articles include:
Meat from chimpanzees 'is on sale in Britain' in lucrative black market
Chimp meat discovered on menu in Midlands restaurants
The slaughtering of these intelligent (and often endangered) primates for food (but mostly profit) is horrific its own right, but it also has the very real potential of introducing zoonotic pathogens to humans.
To give some perspective on the size of the problem, in 2010 a study published in the journal Conservation Letters looked at the amount of smuggled bushmeat that was coming into Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport over a 17 day period on flights from west and central Africa.
An Associated Press article provides the details (link & excerpt below):
Tons of Bushmeat Smuggled Into Paris, Study Finds
By MARIA CHENG and CHRISTINA OKELLO Associated Press Writers
PARIS June 17, 2010 (AP)
(EXCERPT)
Experts found 11 types of bushmeat including monkeys, large rats, crocodiles, small antelopes and pangolins, or anteaters. Almost 40 percent were listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
In 2005, the CDC’s EID Journal carried a perspective article on the dangers of bushmeat hunting by Nathan D. Wolfe, Peter Daszak, A. Marm Kilpatrick, and Donald S. Burke .
It describes how it may take multiple introductions of a zoonotic pathogen to man – over a period of years or decades – before it adapts well enough to human physiology to support human-to-human transmission.
Bushmeat Hunting, Deforestation, and Prediction of Zoonotic Disease
Beyond SARS and monkeypox, a few other viruses of concern include Hendra, Nipah, Ebola, avian influenzas, hemorrhagic fevers, many variations of SIV (Simian immunodeficiency virus), and of course . . . Virus X.
The one we don’t know about. Yet.
On the frontlines attempting to interdict the next emerging pathogen is Dr. Nathan Wolfe, whom I’ve written about several times before, including:
Nathan Wolfe And The Doomsday Strain
Nathan Wolfe: Virus Hunter
You can also view an absolutely fascinating TED Talk by Dr. Wolfe.
Video Link
Dr. Wolf has an essay in today’s WSJ that is adapted from his new book ("The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age."), that looks at ways that monitoring `viral chatter’ could tip us off to the next emerging pandemic.
Where Will The Next Pandemic Come From?
To intercept killer viruses, we need to monitor 'viral chatter' in the wilds of Central Africa and Southeast Asia
His vision of a `viral war room’, one that would monitor viral chatter and electronic medical records around the globe, does not exist yet. But there are some volunteer organizations out there working on a much smaller scale -such as ProMed Mail, FluTrackers, the Flu Wiki, and the rest of flublogia – that are attempting to find early indicators of viral trouble from press reports around the world.
For more on how the dedicated volunteer newshounds of the Internet work to track down these stories, I would invite you to read:
