wet market wet market a wet market (also called a public market or a traditional market) is a marketplace selling fresh foods such as meat, fish, produce and other consumption-oriented perishable goods in a non-supermarket setting, as distinguished from "dry markets" that sell durable goods such as fabrics, kitchenwares and electronics. these include a wide variety of markets, such as farmers' markets, fish markets, and wildlife markets. not all wet markets sell live animals, but the term wet market is sometimes used to signify a live animal market in which vendors slaughter animals upon customer purchase, such as is done with poultry in hong kong. wet markets are common in many parts of the world, notably in china, southeast asia, and south asia. they often play critical roles in urban food security due to factors of pricing, freshness of food, social interaction, and local cultures. wet marketa meat stall at a wet market in hong kongtraditional chinese傳統市場simplified chinese传统市场hanyu pinyinchuántǒng shìchǎngjyutpingcyun4 tung2 si5 coeng4 literal meaningtraditional markettranscriptionsstandard mandarinhanyu pinyinchuántǒng shìchǎngyue: cantonesejyutpingcyun4 tung2 si5 coeng4alternative chinese nametraditional chinese街市simplified chinese街市jyutpinggaai1 si5 literal meaningstreet markettranscriptionsyue: cantonesejyutpinggaai1 si5ipa most wet markets do not trade in wild or exotic animals, but some that do have been linked to outbreaks of zoonotic diseases including covid-19, h5n1 avian flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars), and monkeypox. several countries have banned wet markets from holding wildlife. media reports that fail to distinguish between all wet markets and those with live animals or wildlife, as well as insinuations of fostering wildlife smuggling, have been blamed for fueling sinophobia related to the covid-19 pandemic. background terminology the term "wet market" came into common use in singapore in the early 1970s when the government used it to distinguish such traditional markets from the supermarkets that had become popular there. the term was added to the oxford english dictionary (oed) in 2016, as a term used throughout southeast asia. the oed's earliest cited use of the term is from the straits times of singapore in 1978. the "wet" in "wet market" refers to the constantly wet floors due to the melting of ice used to keep food from spoiling, the washing of meat and seafood stalls and the spraying of fresh produce that are common in wet markets. the term "public market" may be synonymous with "wet market", although it may sometimes refer exclusively to state-owned and community-owned wet markets. wet markets may also be called "fresh food markets" and "good food markets" when referring to markets consisting of numerous competing vendors primarily selling fresh produce like fruits and vegetables. the term "wet market" is frequently used to signify a live animal market that sells directly to consumers, although the terms are not synonymous. although the term "wet market" may refer to markets that sell wild animals and wildlife products, it is not synonymous with the term "wildlife market" which exclusively refers to markets that contain wildlife products. types a fruit stall at a traditional open-air street market in mid-levels, hong kong the term "wet market", which specifies markets that sell fresh produce and meat, includes a broad variety of markets. wet markets can be categorized according to their ownership structure (privately owned, state-owned, or community-owned), scale (wholesale or retail), and produce (fruits, vegetables, slaughtered meat, or live animals). they can be further subcategorized based on whether the meat inventory originates from domesticated or wild animals. traditional wet markets are typically housed in temporary sheds, open-air sites, or partially open commercial complexes, while modern wet markets are housed in buildings often equipped with improved ventilation, freezing, and refrigeration facilities. economic role wet markets are less dependent on imported goods than supermarkets due to their smaller volumes and lesser emphasis on consistency. wet markets have been described in a 2019 food security study as "critical for ensuring urban food security", particularly in chinese cities. the roles of wet markets in supporting urban food security include food pricing and physical accessibility. academic papers in urban studies, studies on food distribution, and the singapore national environment agency have noted lower prices, greater freshness of food, and the facilitation of both bargaining and social interaction as key reasons for the persistence of wet markets. the persistence of wet markets has also been attributed to "culinary traditions that call for freshly slaughtered meat and fish as opposed to frozen meats". in developing countries with agriculture-based economies, fresh meat is mainly distributed through traditional wet markets or meat stalls. wet markets selling fresh meat are often attached to, or located near, slaughter facilities. wildlife markets and zoonoses further information: wildlife trade and zoonoses § zoonoses in wildlife markets influenza virus can change by genetic reassortment as it travels between different hosts in its range. the presence of different intermediate hosts in close proximity makes wet markets a high risk environment for such zoonoses. if sanitation standards are not maintained, wet markets can spread disease. those that carry live animals and wildlife are at especially high risk of transmitting zoonoses. because of the openness, newly introduced animals may come in direct contact with sales clerks, butchers, and customers or to other animals which they would never interact with in the wild. this may allow for some animals to act as intermediate hosts, helping a disease spread to humans. outbreaks of zoonotic diseases including covid-19, h5n1 avian flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars), and monkeypox have been traced to live wildlife markets where the potential for zoonotic transmission is greatly increased. wildlife markets in china have been implicated in the 2002 sars outbreak; it is thought that the market environment provided optimal conditions for the coronaviruses of zoonotic origin that caused both outbreaks to mutate and subsequently spread to humans. the exact origin of the covid-19 pandemic is yet to be confirmed as of february 2021 and was originally linked to the huanan seafood wholesale market in wuhan, china due to reports that two-thirds of the initial cases had direct exposure to the market, although a 2021 who investigation concluded that the huanan market was unlikely to be the origin due to the existence of earlier cases. due to unhygienic sanitation standards and the connection to the spread of zoonoses and pandemics, critics have grouped live animal markets together with factory farming as major health hazards in china and across the world. in march and april 2020, some reports have said that wildlife markets in asia, africa, and in general all over the world are prone to health risks. cages with pangolins and snakes at a wildlife market in mong la, myanmar.cages with owls and tree shrews at jatinegara market in jakarta, indonesiaunsanitary conditions with different species packed tightly are known to spread disease. disease control intervention due to the suspicions that wet markets could have played a role in the emergence of covid-19, a group of us lawmakers, niaid director anthony fauci, unep biodiversity chief elizabeth maruma mrema, and cbcgdf secretary general zhou jinfeng called in april 2020 for the global closure of wildlife markets due to the potential for zoonotic diseases and risk to endangered species. in april 2021, the world health organization called for a total ban on the sale of live animals in food markets in order to prevent future pandemics. planetary health studies have called for disease control intervention measures, in lieu of outlawing live-animal wet markets, to be implemented in wet markets. these include proposals for "standardised global monitoring of water, sanitation, and hygiene (wash) conditions", which the world health organization announced in april 2020 that it was developing as requirements for wet markets to open. other proposals include less homogeneous policies that are specialized for local social, cultural, and financial factors, as well as new proposed rapid assessment tools for monitoring the hygiene and biosecurity of live animal stalls in wet markets. media coverage during the first few months of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020, chinese wet markets were heavily criticized in media outlets as a potential source for the virus. media reports urging for permanent blanket bans on all wet markets, as opposed to solely live animal markets or wildlife markets, have been criticized for undermining infection control needs to be specific about wildlife markets and distracting public attention from local public health threats. some western media portrayed wet markets without distinguishing between general wet markets, live animal wet markets, and wildlife markets, using montages of explicit images from different markets across asia without identifying locations. these depictions have been criticized by other journalists and anthropologists as sensationalist, exaggerated, orientalist, and fueling sinophobia and "chinese otherness". around the world there are wet markets throughout the world, with the largest concentration in asia followed by europe and north america according to touristic social network data in 2019. ethiopia according to a 2013 study on agricultural value chains, approximately 90% of households in ethiopia across all income groups purchase their beef through local butchers in wet markets. kenya the most common agricultural supply chain in kenya involves farmers selling their produce to collectors who then sell the produce to retailers in wet markets. a 2006 study in the areas around nairobi and kisumu found that 21% of farmers sold to collectors, 17% sold directly to wholesalers, and 14% sold directly to wet market vendors. the collectors and wholesalers both predominantly sold their produce inventory to wet market vendors. the customers of the wet markets in the study were predominantly end consumers, although a small share of the wet markets also sold to restaurants. nigeria fruit and vegetable vendors at bodija market, ibadan, nigeria according to a 2011 usda foreign agricultural service report, most of the clientele of traditional open-air wet markets in nigeria are low and middle income consumers. from 2008 to 2009, a group of food safety researchers launched an initiative working with a small group of butchers in the wet market section of bodija market in ibadan to promote positive food safety practices and peer-to-peer training. the initiative led to 20% more meat samples being of acceptable quality. a follow-up study in 2019 on the same group of butchers found that, while many of the butchers still remembered the food safety practices, "none of the butchers reported that they continued to buy and replace the materials after the exhaustion of those distributed during the intervention programme". the follow-up study found that the microbiological sanitation in 2018 was even worse than before the 2008–2009 intervention. in 2014, the license of the slaughterhouse in the wet market section of bodija market was revoked due to unhygienic meat handling practices. in its place, the local government opened the ibadan central abattoir in amosun village, akinyele through public-private partnerships. the new facility is equipped with modern facilities for slaughter and processing of meat were provided in 2014 through public-private partnerships and is one of the largest abattoirs in west africa, consisting of 15 hectares of land with stalls for 1000 meat sellers, 170 shops, administrative building, clinic, canteen, cold room, and an incinerator. in june 2018, local newspapers reported that five people were killed in the bodija market abattoir when a security team attempted to enforce the forcible relocation of ibadan abattoirs to the new facilities as ordered by the local government. uganda the most common agricultural supply chain in uganda involves farmers selling their produce to wholesalers, who in turn sell to retailers in wet markets. a 2006 study in the areas around kampala and mbale found that 51% of farmers sold to wholesalers and 18% sold directly to wet market vendors, while 34% of the wholesalers sold to wet market vendors. the customers of the wet markets in the study were predominantly end consumers, although a small share of the wet markets also sold to restaurants. brazil saúde street market, são paulo, brazil in brazil, regulations on wet markets are handled at the municipal level. the regulations widely vary across brazil, with zoning rules prohibiting wet markets in some municipalities. a 2003 study found that wet markets were losing ground in food retail to supermarkets, which had an overall food retail market share of 75%. the gains of supermarkets over traditional food retailers in brazil were predominantly in meat and seafood retail, with the supermarkets' fresh meat & seafood market shares typically three times greater than their fresh fruits & vegetables market share.