Pre- and post-Ebola outbreak trends in wild meat trade in West Africa

Impact of COVID‐19 on wild meat trade in Nigerian markets

“…This meat is regularly traded in markets in many towns and cities (see Fa et al, 2019). In Nigeria, the amount of meat sold from most species crashed dramatically after the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014, highlighting the awareness of the general public of a link between disease risk and wild meat (Akani et al, 2015; Funk et al, 2021). The opportunities for zoonotic spill‐over have increased in parallel with the increase of the intensity and extent of bushmeat trade over the last decades (Karesh & Noble, 2009).…”

“…Our nine study markets are significant concentration points for wild meat, located along main roads and near principal rivers and urban centers. These areas are heavily populated containing hundreds of villages interspersed by patches of deltaic moist and flooded forests, as well as agricultural land (for map and more details, see Funk et al, 2021). Each market had around 20–30 counters with animal carcasses displayed for sale to customers.…”

“…In our study, monitoring commenced in 2010. Results up to the end of 2019 in the context of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014 are presented in Funk et al (2021). We surveyed each market about once every 10 days almost every month from 2016 onward, but less often between 2010 and 2015.…”

“…Significant declining trends were observed for antelopes (Mann–Kendall statistics for changes in time series = −2.58, p = .005); bush pigs (−2.4, p = .008); fruit bats (−3.09, p = .001); diurnal primates (−4.81, p < .001); reptiles (−3.82, p < .001); and rodents (−3.27, p < .001) but not for carnivores (−1.59, p = 0.056). These declines happened even though wild meat markets had not yet fully recovered from the dramatic reduction after the EVD outbreak in 2014 (Funk et al, 2021). Comparing the mean monthly pre‐EVD, pre‐COVID‐19, and COVID‐19 periods, sale volumes revealed the lowest values for the COVID‐19 period: antelopes (4.9, 1.8, 0.9); bush pigs (not monitored, 0.9, 0.6); carnivores (4.4, 2.0, 0.5); fruit bats (14.8, 0.7, 0.2); diurnal primates (2.7, 0.1, 0.0); reptiles (3.6, 2.0, 0.5); and rodents (24.2, 16.5, 8.8).…”

Wild Meat

“…It has had impacts on commodity prices and disrupted supply chains, and in some countries has caused a drop in international travel and tourism. Part of the response to this systemic crisis may be a reduction in consumption of wild meat due to concerns over the perceived health risks, as was the case in Liberia during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa (Dindé et al 2017;Ordaz-Németh et al 2017), and in Nigeria (Funk et al 2021). The immediate ban on the wild meat trade during the COVID-19 outbreak in West and Central Africa had a limited and short-term impact on demand and on the associated hunting pressure (WCS Central Africa 2020).…”