COVID-19 has underscored the urgent need for action to help prevent future pandemics. COVID-19, along with SARS, MERS, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, and many other pandemics before, jumped from wild animals to humans through close proximity or human consumption.
The Preventing Future Pandemics Act aims to address the global health risks posed by the wildlife trade by closing down wildlife markets and ending the international trade in wildlife for human consumption. This legislation, introduced by Reps Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Fred Upton (R-MI) and Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and John Cornyn (R-TX), would:
- Help shut down commercial wildlife markets overseas and the cruel wildlife trade that fuels them.
- End the import, export, and sale of terrestrial wildlife for food and traditional medicine in the United States.
- Phase-out demand for wildlife as a food source by encouraging alternative forms of food production.
Global and national action to curb the wildlife trade is one of the most effective strategies to prevent future pandemics, reduce animal suffering, and protect biodiversity.
While we're working to end to the wildlife trade for all purposes, not just human consumption, this bill is an important step in helping to avoid another global health crisis and will prevent millions of animals from being cruelly bred in captivity or poached from the wild.