In recognition of the challenges of emerging infectious diseases after the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002 caused by a bat-origin coronavirus, the Chinese government established a national real-time hospital-based infectious disease reporting system.1 Likewise, live poultry market interventions were initiated in response to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in southern China in 2001.8 In December 2019 (after the completion of the current study), a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) emerged in Wuhan, China and spread rapidly across China and the world.9,10 This virus is a group 2b coronavirus, which includes SARS-CoV and bat SARSr-CoVs, and its closest relative is a virus identified in a Rhinolophus affinis bat from Yunnan.10,11 Environmental samples positive for 2019-nCoV were found in an urban market in Wuhan where some of the earliest known human cases originated.12,13 This likely index site sold predominantly seafood, but is also thought to sell live wildlife at the market, and a temporary ban on the wildlife trade for food has been put in place across China. These efforts in response to SARS, HPAI and 2019-nCoV represent a reaction-driven response to zoonotic disease outbreaks, whereas, apart from the new temporary ban on wildlife trade, only limited preventative measures are currently being enacted in the region to reduce the risk of future zoonotic disease outbreaks.14