CHINESE scientists have claimed that the new coronavirus shared a strain of virus found in bats.
But what is bat soup and is it safe to eat? Here’s the latest.
Bat soup is reported to be a popular dish particularly in Wuhan, where the virus is understood to have originated at an open air fish market.
Grim pictures of a bat with its cooked insides floating around a broth have began circulating as 25 people have now been confirmed dead from the virus.
In some of the images, the bats – still with fur and body parts in tact – looks frozen in pain as diners scoop it up on a spoon.
In one video a girl puts the creature whole in her mouth with chopsticks.
Some recipes don’t include the whole bat, but the soup is made of a broth that comes from boiling down the bats in a pot.
The bats are then skinned and their meat and insides added to the broth.
In some places in the world, eating bats is illegal due to the danger of zoonotic diseases.
Bats have been known to carry Ebola virus and Marburg virus, passing them onto humans that come into contact with them.
They may also host henipaviruses and strains of rabies.
In a statement, the researchers said: “The Wuhan coronavirus’ natural host could be bats … but between bats and humans there may be an unknown intermediate.”
But a senior researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, who asked not to be named, said the findings should be treated with caution.
He told the South China Morning Post: “It is based on calculation by a computer model.
“Whether it will match what happens in real life is inconclusive.
“The binding protein is important, but it is just one of the many things under investigation. There may be other proteins involved.”
The expert believes that the new strain was an RNA virus, meaning that its mutation speed was 100 times faster than that of a DNA virus such as smallpox.
Scientists at Peking University also claim that the deadly virus was passed to humans from bats – via snakes, which are sold at the open-air market in Wuhan.
