Blame the Pigs?

Pork is the major meat source used in China (the country consumes 55 million tonnes a year). African swine fever reached China in 2018, spreading to all regions by 2019. A new analysis suggests that this event had a role in the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/10/deadly-pig-disease-could-have-led-to-covid-spillover-to-humans-analysis-suggests). Pigs, infected with Afrian swine fever, have to be killed (there is no cure and it's very contagious). The analysis notes, that the spread of African swine fever, led to a distortion of pork supplies in China. This resulted in people turning to other meat sources. These included meat from wild animals in 'wet markets', where Sars-CoV-2 is presumed to have made the jump to humans. Don't blame the pigs. They were innocent bystanders.