Virus trivia: Where does the source of Wuhan’s new coronavirus pneumonia come from?

On January 23, Shi Zhengli’s team of Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences published an article stating that the sequence of Wuhan’s new coronavirus nCoV-2019 is as high as 96% identical to that of a coronavirus in a bat. However, as early as two decades ago, scientists have discovered that bats are natural hosts for a variety of viruses and carry a wide variety of viral gene banks.

“Similar to SARS coronavirus, its natural host is in bats. But in fact, it was brought to the wild animal market through small mammals such as civet cats and salamanders, and then infected workers and people who eat game early.” Zhu Huachen, an associate professor at the School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong, reminded that the history of interaction between wild animals or live animals such as poultry and livestock and other animals is not clear, and exposure to them may infect rare pathogens and be hidden dangers.