Recently, there have been many new cases of the epidemic in Beijing, all of which are said to come from the fresh market.
Among them, the "salmon" suddenly became the culprit.
On the evening of June 12, during a spot check at the Xinfadi wholesale market in Beijing, the new coronavirus was detected from the cutting board of imported salmon, which was sourced from the Jingshen Seafood Market.
For a while, everyone did not dare to eat salmon, and the main supermarkets in Beijing have been removed from the shelves overnight.
Even if experts later debunked rumors that "the possibility of salmon itself as a viral carrier is very small, and the virus is derived from salmon case boards", everyone does not dare to believe it.
Jin Dongyan, a virologist and professor of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, said in an interview with China News Weekly:
China News Weekly
"Seafood is unlikely to be a source of infection because fish as a lower organism, fish viruses have hardly ever been transmitted to humans. And there is now no evidence that the virus can replicate in fish, which means that the possibility of salmon itself as a viral vector is very small. ”
China's salmon market is very large, and the number of people who love salmon is also rising year by year.
China imported about 15,000 tonnes of salmon in 2019.
Experts predict that by 2025, China's salmon imports will exceed 200,000 tons, or even reach 400,000 tons!
The largest importer of salmon is Norway.
In April, Norway exported 3,141 tonnes of salmon to China, a 97% year-on-year increase.
Norway accounts for 45% of all Chinese salmon imports.
After the outbreak of the epidemic in Beijing, Norway's salmon exports to China fell by 34% over the same period.
In fact, Norway's salmon farming has been exposed by the Global Times as seriously polluted before.
But the domestic demand is too large, and in recent years, the number of imports has gradually recovered, and it is not because of China's 1.3 billion people's foodies!
Norway and Chile are big exporters of salmon, with Norwegian salmon sales reaching 50 billion euros a year.
In the waters of northern Norway, there are many huge salmon farms, each with tens of thousands of fish.
Investigative journalist Floddin, who sneaked into the farm with a camera and captured the astonishing scene, said:
Investigative journalist Floddin
"I knew I would see fish gasping for breath because of the crowds, but the sight was even more terrifying: a large number of fish crammed into the dirty, excrement-filled waters. Many diseased salmon are covered with ulcers as large as the palm of their hands, and some have become S-shaped deformed fish. ”
Because of the high density of farming and the extremely poor sanitary environment, the fish lice are infested, resulting in a mortality rate of up to 20% for salmon.
To add to the trouble, 183 000 farmed salmon escape farms and enter the ocean each year. Competing with wild salmon for food and also infecting them with fish lice, polluting the wild environment.
You know, the number of wild salmon in Norway is about 530,000, and there are 400 million artificially farmed!
Norway depends on the abundance of natural resources, and minerals, fisheries and forests have become its pillar industries.
Norway has always been a beautiful country in our minds.
"Norwegian Wood" sung by The Beatles
▼▼▼▼▼"Norwegian Forest" written by Haruki Murakami while living in Europe
It is all a fantasy and a yearning for the natural and cultural scenery of this country.
Hopefully, people who want to walk into the Norwegian forest will not fall into the nightmare of salmon covered with lice.
-END-