Live and wet markets in Asia: the importance for food security and disease emergence

In South and Southeast Asia, markets often sell animal products as well as live animals. Many people depend on these markets for their livelihood or food supply.

The mix of humans, both retailers and customers; live animals for sale; wild and scavenging animals; and food products including ready-to-eat food, creates a perfect recipe for emerging infectious diseases.

Such markets have been in the spotlight as sources of zoonotic viruses, e.g. avian influenza viruses (AIV) and coronaviruses (CoV), including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) CoV-2, causing the COVID-19 pandemic.We will study markets in Lao PDR and Bangladesh, using mixed methods to understand the importance and regulations, and the impacts of COVID-19 on livelihoods and food security.

In each country we will interview 270 retailers and customers, both during dry and wet seasons.

We will sample live animals sold in the market, and trap bats and rodents at night for sampling, which we will screen for CoV and AIV. Animal samples will be analyzed by RT-PCR and metagenomics.

We will also pilot a participatory early alert system with a One Health approach, connecting human and veterinary surveillance.This project will generate knowledge on the dynamics of live animal markets, how viruses spread within them, and between animals and humans. This generated knowledge will increase preparedness and prevention for future outbreaks.

This project thus have the potential to improve both livelihoods and public health.