10 Things We Learned From Infectious Disease Expert Michael Osterholm On Joe Rogan Experience
4. Why Are Viruses Like This Coming Out Of China?
Well, Osterholm referred to China as a 'viral and bacterial soup vessel' and claims that it has been that way for a 'long time'.
But why?
China has a huge population of 2 billion people and (as you may have seen) Wet Markets are located in pretty much every city which contain a food supply that largely consists of wildlife. Therefore there's an incredible amount of contact between people and these animals.
Rogan threw up some images of the types of animals which are sold and killed at these markets every day and the list included everything from peacocks to hedgehogs. Yet, the massive issue lies in the fact that these animals are constantly being grouped together.
Osterholm mentioned how he has an image of a bunch of chickens being kept in a cage on top of some ferrets. Ferrets are known for getting infected with flu viruses and this situation almost acted like the 'perfect experiment'. Chickens in this situation could quite easily catch that disease and die or when we eat the birds we could get infected further down the line.
It would be tough to implement any significant changes in the Chinese culture as this type of practise - slaughtering animals and grouping them together - has been done for generations. However, it is undoubtedly a hotbed for cross contamination and has been the catalyst for outbreaks like this one.