It is interesting the number of diseases that came out of China - the black plague, the “Spanish” flu, bird flu, swine flu and now Covid-19.
This is of course due to crowded places and bad hygiene, but India is even worse and has never spawned a plague that went to the rest of the world.
The only conclusion is the eating and selling of exotic meats - the same root cause as Ebola.
I wonder if there are zoonotic diseases that spread from pigs or cows or chickens? I’ve not heard about any
The prevailing theory (not the only, but the dominant one) for the 1918-20 Spanish Flu is that it originated on a Kansas farm that raised geese and pigs in close proximity.
Then it jumped to a Kansas Army base gearing up for WW1, then rode the troop ships to Europe.
But the USA largely cleaned up its food sanitation act a century ago after Upton Sinclair wrote “The Jungle,” leading to the FDA etc.
China never cleaned up its act, and unlike vegetarian India, it has an exotic meat fetish. “Wet markets” in Hindu India are unimaginable. The Chinese also pay poachers globally to kill tigers, rhinos and other endangered animals for “traditional Chinese medicine.”
Quarantine China, I say.
“Xi stressed that China has been sharing information on COVID-19 in an open, transparent and responsible manner...”
LOL!