Wet Markets and Emerging Infectious Diseases

One Health for All

Wet markets in Southeast Asia have recently gained widespread attention because origins of the COVID-19 pandemic have been linked to a wet market in Wuhan, China as with the 2003 SARS pandemic1. Our objective was to explore the systems influencing the emergence of zoonotic diseases in live wet markets. In characterizing these systems, we decided to utilize a One Health approach, which is a collaborative, multi-sectoral, and trans-disciplinary approach for evaluating health outcomes. Specifically, we evaluated how processes occurring among animals, humans, and their shared environment interact to drive emerging zoonoses in wet markets, and how policy can influence these processes to promote healthier outcomes globally. We first built an understanding of each sector alone, identified intersections with other areas, then came together as a team to paint a holistic picture of the environmental, animal, and human impacts leading to spillover events at wet markets. Simply eliminating wet markets is not the answer. This project demonstrates the necessity of using a One Health approach to building teams and solutions when addressing complex health problems that inherently involve humans, animals, and environments.

Presenters: UNC Students: Omid Barr, Aarushi Joshi, Elle Law, Christine Wang (NC State)

How to connect:

Email: Omid Barr: bomid@live.unc.edu, Aarushi Joshi: aarushij@live.unc.edu, Elle Law: elleunc@gmail.com, Christine Wang: cawang@ncsu.edu
LinkedIn: Omid Barr, Elle Law, Christine Wang