US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US has called on China to permanently close its wildlife wet markets, Reuters reported.

“Given the strong link between illegal wildlife sold in wet markets and zoonotic diseases, the United States has called on the People’s Republic of China to permanently close its wildlife wet markets and all markets that sell illegal wildlife,” Pompeo said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Wuhan has become the epicenter for the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the latest data, the global death toll has exceeded 180,000, while the total number of infected worldwide has exceeded 2.6 million people.