This is another in our series of coronavirus episodes of Scientific American’s Science Talk, posted on March 19, 2020. I’m Steve Mirsky.
In early March, the prime minister of Vietnam directed the government to draft a directive to prohibit wildlife trade and consumption, to be submitted to him by April 1, 2020. In February China took similar actions.
To find out more about the wildlife trade and its relationship to the current coronavirus outbreak, I called Christian Walzer. He’s the executive director of global health at the Wildlife Conservation Society. We both live in the Bronx, but due to the current situation, we spoke by phone.
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That’s it for this episode. Get your science news at our Web site (www.ScientificAmerican.com), where we’re bringing you the latest news and insights about the coronavirus outbreak—all of which is available free. And as always, we have other science news for your edification and enjoyment.
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