It is suggested by researchers that the deadly coronavirus, which has been rapidly spreading from China, might have been transmitted to humans from snakes sold at a market in Wuhan.
The SARS-like virus emerged in Wuhan, China, last month, claiming the lives of at least 17 people and infecting nearly 600 others. The virus has also been detected in Washington, United States.
Initial reports indicate that many of the first coronavirus patients were either workers or customers at a seafood market where processed meat was sold alongside live consumable animals, including koalas, camels, and reptiles.
According to a report in Daily Mail, researchers conducted an analysis of strains of the new coronavirus and compared them to those found in different animal hosts such as birds, snakes, bats, and humans. Their findings suggested that snakes were susceptible to the most similar version of the coronavirus, possibly serving as a reservoir for the viral strain to strengthen and propagate.
Snakes are known to prey on bats, which were the original hosts in the 2003 SARS outbreak, and it is believed that the 2019-nCoV strain could have jumped from bats to snakes before being transmitted to humans, as reported by Metro UK.
Further examinations are required to verify the origins of the current epidemic. However, it was noted by CNN that the market has been disinfected and closed down, posing an additional challenge to this task.