Experts believe fruit bats which feature in the local delicacy could host the flu-like virus which has now spread to humans. Most of the first group of coronavirus patients either worked or shopped at Wuhan seafood wholesale market where live consumable animals including poultry, donkeys, sheep, pigs, camels, foxes, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs, civets, wolf cubs and reptiles were all readily available. The market was shut down in late December at the start of the outbreak and is now under surveillance by security staff.

Scientists are also looking into theories the consumption of live baby mice or snakes could be behind the outbreak.

Snakes, which were also on sale at Wuhan seafood market, often hunt for bats in the wild, raising the possibility coronavirus might have jumped from the bats to snakes and then to humans.

Scientists said how the virus could adapt to both cold-blooded reptiles and warm-blooded mammals was still a mystery.

Three separate research teams are to start work on developing potential vaccines against coronavirus.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is co-funding the emergency projects, said the plan was to have at least one potential vaccine in clinical trials by June.

The research will be conducted by the drug and vaccine developer Moderna working with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the US firm Inovio Pharma, and a team at the University of Queensland, Australia.

SCROLL DOWN FOR CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

BREAKING NEWS: Coronavirus puts UK police stations on lockdown

01:30am update: Wellcome Trust advises Britons on how to avoid contracting and spreading virus

Director, Jeremy Farrar, commended China for its quick response to the unfolding pandemic.

He says Britons should regularly wash their hands, avoid travel unless essential, among several other tips you can find here. 

11:00pm update: Pubic Health England confirm 14 people in the UK tested for virus

The outfit revealed that 14 people had been tested for the virus in the UK, spakring fears nationwide.

Five of the people have been cleared while the results of the remaining nine are yet to be returned. 

7.18pm update: Chinese TV presenters wear face masks during studio broadcast

A number of Chinese broadcasters have been spotted taking extra precautions, as they opt to wear face masks while on air.

The TV hosts have said they are wearing the masks, despite the obvious hindrance, to demonstrate the correct way to wear the basic protection.

6.40pm update: ‘Too early’ to declare international public health emergency

The World Health Organisation’s emergency committee has concluded it is “too early” to declare an international public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak.

6.32pm update: Fifth person tested for virus in Scotland

A fifth person is being tested for coronavirus in Scotland as a “precautionary measure”.

A Scottish government spokeswoman confirmed that two people diagnosed with flu were now being tested for the virus while three others are also being tested on a precautionary basis.

4.51pm update: Death toll reaches 18 as another person dies of the new virus 

China’s Hebei provincial health authority has said a coronavirus patient has died, bringing the total death toll up to 18.

Hundreds of other patients have been diagnosed with the illness.

4.24pm update: UK says no positive coronvirus tests have been made 

Boris Johnson’s official spokesman has sought to reassure the public that no positive tests have yet been made.

In response to reports that four people are being tested for the virus in Scotland, the spokesman said: “These measures are purely precautionary and nobody has tested positive.”

4.08pm update: Nurse infected with virus in Saudi Arabia 

An Indian nurse in southern Saudi Arabia hospital has been infected with the virus, India’s minister of state affairs has revealed.

4.03pm update: Ireland on high alert as Dublin patient returns from China with fever

Hospitals in Ireland ore on high alert after fears a patient from Dublin had contracted coronavirus. 

The incident happened on Tuesday when an ambulance brought in a patient who had returned from China with a fever.

The patient was rushed to A&E at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, the Irish Independent reports.

A decontamination of the patient, who has not been named, took place, Dr Jack Lambert confirmed.

He added the patient had a full assessment and examination and was revealed not to have the virus – but that hospitals in the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland should be on “heightened alert”. 

3.48pm update: British quarantined patient says more should have been done at Heathrow airport 

Craig Dillion, a British holidaygoer who flew back from Australia via China and began to feel ill after landing in the UK has spoken out on his experience of being rushing into hospital.

He said he was rapidly transferred to an isolation unit in hospital and criticised the approach taken at Heathrow airport.

He told Sky News “there should have been something more at Heathrow” to detect that he was ill.

3.34pm update: Turkey to screen on all passengers travelling from China

The Turkish Health Ministry will start screening passengers on all flights from China with thermal cameras, in an effort to detect the deadly virus.

3.16pm update: Fears virus has reached UK as four tested in Scotland

Four people in Scotland are being tested for suspected coronavirus after travelling from the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the outbreak began.

2.55pm update: Vietnam reports first coronavirus cases

Two Chinese citizens have tested positive for coronavirus in Vietnam but are in “good condition”, officials said.

Deputy health minister Nguyen Truong Son said: “The ministry of health will continue to monitor for suspected symptoms at airports in Nha Trang and Danang where, many Chinese visitors arrive.

“All visitors from infected areas will be closely tracked and must undergo health checks”.

The father and son pair were admitted to hospital yesterday after showing signs of fever and are being treated at the Cho Ray hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

The recently arrived in Vietnam from Wuhan and travelled to the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and the

southern city of Nha Trang before being hospitalised.

2pm update: Violence flares as shoppers storm supermarkets in panic-stricken Wuhan

Residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan have stormed shops and supermarkets and fought over food as violence flared after authorities imposed strict bans on people leaving and entering to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Supermarket shelves were emptied as panic spread across the city of 11 million people amid growing fears the emergency lockdown measures will spark shortages with supplies unable to get through. 

Videos emerging on social media show panic and fear much in evidence and violence amid panic buying in the shops.

1.36pm update: Wuhan hospitals launch appeal for medical supplies

Hospitals in Wuhan have called for public donations of medical supplies such as surgical masks, scrubs and protective goggles. All isolation wards across the crisis-torn city are reported to be full.

Chinese face mask manufacturers have been forced to reopen factories that were shut for the national holiday to meet demand and have reportedly offered to quadruple the wages of workers whose New Year holidays were cancelled.

1.28pm update: Philippines imposes Wuhan flight ban

The Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board has announced all flights from Wuhan to Manilla have been suspended.

1.17pm update: Singapore confirms first coronavirus case

Singapore’s Ministry of Health has confirmed its first imported case of coronavirus.

A 66-year-old man from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the epicentre of the outbreak, is in an isolation ward at Singapore General Hospital.

Officials said a woman had also tested preliminarily positive for the virus but was yet to be confirmed.

1.13pm update: US health chiefs say 16 under observation in coronavirus scare

At least 16 people who had close contact with a Washington man diagnosed as the first US coronavirus case are being monitored for the infection.

John Wiesman, secretary of health for Washington State, said none of the people who were in close contact with the patient have displayed symptoms of the flu-like illness.

Jay Cook, chief medical officer at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, said the 30-year-old patient-year-old man was doing well and may be discharged in the near future.

The man fell ill over the weekend after visiting Wuhan in November and December and was diagnosed with coronavirus on Monday.

12.42pm update: Russia says three in hospital over coronavirus health fears

Health chiefs in the Russian city of St Petersburg have confirmed three people are in hospital undergoing tests for coronavirus.

They said two patients – one Russian and one Chinese – were taken to hospital over coronavirus suspicions.

The Russian national was taken directly from the airport after flying in from China while the Chinese student reportedly arrived in to Russia a week ago.

Officials confirmed a third patient was now in hospital but gave no further details.

12.39pm update: Expert warns coronavirus crisis will last months

The deadly China coronavirus outbreak is likely to get worse for another two months, an expert has warned.

Yu Xiaohua, a professor of economics at the University of Gottingen in Germany, predicted the virus would not peak until around 90 days after the initial outbreak.

Professor Yu warned that the crisis would not be over until at least May.

He said his grim forecast was based on a mathematical model using information about the SARS outbreak which began in China in 2002 and killed 800 people.

12.33pm update: Fourth Chinese city announces travel ban

Chibi has become the fourth city in China’s central Hubei province to introduce a travel ban.

All public buses and shuttle buses will be suspended from midnight tonight.

Officials in Huanggang, the second city to go into lockdown after coronavirus epicentre Wuhan, has now ordered all citizens to wear face-masks if they go out in public.

12.31pm update: Dubai launches screening programme

Dubai will screen passengers arriving on direct flights from China, the emirate’s airport operator has announced.

A spokesman said passengers arriving at Dubai International will be thermally screened.

12.24pm update: Roadblocks set up around quarantined city

Roads leading to and from Wuhan have now been blocked as the city has been placed in quarantine to try and stop the spread of the coronavirus.

12.15pm update: Beijing cancels Chinese New Year celebrations

Officials in Beijing have cancelled a raft of major public events to celebrate China’s Lunar New Year with the whole country left reeling by its rapidly growing coronavirus crisis.

A spokesman for Beijing Culture and Tourism Bureau said: “In order to control the epidemic, protect people’s lives and health, reduce the mass gathering and ensure people to have a harmonious and peaceful spring festival, it is decided to cancel all the large-scale events, including temple fairs, in Beijing as of today.”

The Chinese capital joins Wuhan, Zhejiang and Macau in cancelling Lunar New Year events.

The release of seven blockbuster films over the Lunar New Year has been also postponed.

The holiday is the high season for distributors and cinemas usually attract huge crowds.

China’s state-run railway will give refunds to ticket-holders who choose not to travel over the holiday period.

12.08pm update: India steps up coronavirus screening

India has stepped up its coronavirus screening programme and said it was fully prepared to deal with an outbreak should the infection cross from China.

Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said 9,156 passengers from 43 flights were screened for novel coronavirus infection at airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

She said no cases have been detected. Ms Sudan urged passengers travelling from China to report to the nearest public health facility if they started to display flu-like symptoms.

11.53am update: Third Chinese city on lockdown as panic grows over coronavirus spread

The Chinese city of Ezhou has been placed on lockdown alongside Wuhan and Huanggang.

The emergency measures includes strict travel bans to and from the cities.

Ezhou, a city of one million people, lies 55 miles east of Wuhan, where the virus was first detected.

Authorities there said all train stations had been closed down.

Ezhou is located just 18 miles from Huanggang, across the Yangtze River.

It brings the number of people on lockdown to 20 million.

11.41am update: Hong Kong halts rail services to stricken city

Hong kong has stopped high-speed train services to the the city Wuhan which it at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak.

11.32am update: Hancock says true number of coronavirus cases will be far higher than China admits

Health Secretary Matt Hancock ha warned the true number of coronavirus cases is likely to be much higher than the Chinese admit – just hours after Imperial College London experts claimed 4,000 people were infected in Wuhan alone.

Mr Hancock said there were no confirmed cases so far on UK soil and insisted the country was well-equipped to deal with any cases that arose.

But he said Britain’s Chief Medical Officer had raised the coronavirus threat level to the UK from “very low” to “low” and the Foreign Office was advising against all but essential travel to the Wuhan area.

11.12am update: Death toll rises to 25

10.43am update: WHO hits back at coronavirus critics

World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has hit back after being accused of failing to act over coronavirus.

He tweeted: “The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern on new coronavirus is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence.”

10.30am update: Disinfectant trucks spray streets of Shanghai

Health chiefs in the Shanghai have deployed tankers carrying powerful disinfectant to spray they streets and pavements of the city amid growing panic of a coronavirus pandemic.

Footage posted on social media earlier today showed the trucks in action in residential areas of the city.