Chinese Scientists: Bats are the source of the new Coronavirus

Chinese scientists have speculated that the novel coronavirus, which has spread in China and some countries in the world, has originated in bats as well as the SARS virus.

Chinese scientists said on Monday that they have more evidence that the new virus is likely to have originated in bats.

In two scientific studies, published Monday in the Journal "Nature", the scientists mentioned that the sequence of the total genetic makeup taken from several patients in Wuhan shows that the new corona virus is closely related to the viruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome, known as "SARS".

In one of the two studies, Shi Chen Li and his colleagues, a professor with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, said the sequence of the total genetic makeup taken from 7 patients corresponded to 96 percent of the coronavirus in bats, the Associated Press reported.

It is believed that "SARS" also arose in bats, although it moved to civet cats before it infected people in the global outbreak of the disease that occurred in 2002 and 2003.

It is noteworthy that scientists suspect that the latest outbreak of the new corona virus in China started in a seafood market in Wuhan, where wild animals were on sale and in contact with people, but the animal source of the virus has not yet been identified.

"Basically, this virus is a version of SARS that spreads more easily but does less damage," said Ian Jones, professor of virology at University of Reading, who was not familiar with the studies.

"The virus also uses the same receptors, which is the door used to access human cells, which explains the transmission of infection and the cause of pneumonia," Jones said in a statement.