Bird flu market and street vendors, 2008
Caged chickens for sale at a wet market that had seen an outbreak of bird flu in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 2008. The chickens are kept live at the market, as well as being killed and cooked there. Bird flu, or H5N1 avian influenza, is a highly contagious disease of poultry and other birds. It can spread from birds to humans and it can be fatal. Wet markets such as this, with a high density of humans and living livestock, are a perfect environment for the spread of animal and human diseases, and for the emergence of new diseases such as covid-19.