Bats likely origin of new coronavirus, says study

Beijing: The new coronavirus in the ongoing outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province, is likely to have originated from bats, and is genetically more identical to severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, than the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS, according to a study published online.

However, the new virus is neither SARS nor MERS, but a relative that belongs to a different class called the betacoronavirus, a single-strand RNA virus that can infect wild animals, livestock and humans.