Snakes Could Be the Original Source of the New Coronavirus Outbreak in China

(Source: Scientific American)

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research.

Snakes—the Chinese krait and the Chinese cobra—may be the original source of the newly discovered coronavirus that has triggered an outbreak of a deadly infectious respiratory illness in China this winter.

The many-banded krait (Bungarus multicinctus), also known as the Taiwanese krait or the Chinese krait, is a highly venomous species of elapid snake found in much of central and southern China and Southeast Asia. Briston/Wikimedia, CC BY-SA