EU wants pandemic treaty to ban wildlife markets, reward virus detection

The European Union is pushing for a global deal aimed at preventing new pandemics that could include a ban on wildlife markets and incentives for countries to report new viruses or variants, an EU official told Reuters.

International negotiators will meet for the first time on Wednesday to prepare talks for a potential treaty, said the official, who is not authorised to speak to media and so declined to be named.

The aim is to reach a preliminary agreement by August.

However, Brussels has so far struggled to get full backing for a new treaty from the United States and