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Highlighting those fears, Chinese officials announced on Sunday that the trading of wild animals would be temporarily suspended in hopes that would help contain the outbreak.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/27/world/coronavirus-china-bans-wildlife-trade-trnd/index.html Chinese officials crack down on wildlife markets as coronavirus outbreak nears 3,000 cases] By Alicia Lee, CNN</ref>}}

Highlighting those fears, Chinese officials announced on Sunday that the trading of wild animals would be temporarily suspended in hopes that would help contain the outbreak.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/27/world/coronavirus-china-bans-wildlife-trade-trnd/index.html Chinese officials crack down on wildlife markets as coronavirus outbreak nears 3,000 cases] By Alicia Lee, CNN</ref>}}

 

''Nature Research'' indicates:

''Nature Research'' indicates:

{{Cquote|Researchers in Guangzhou, China, have suggested that pangolins — long-snouted, ant-eating mammals often used in traditional Chinese medicine — are the probable animal source of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 30,000 people and is wreaking havoc worldwide.

{{Cquote|Researchers in Guangzhou, China, have suggested that pangolins — long-snouted, ant-eating mammals often used in traditional Chinese medicine — are the probable animal source of the coronavirus outbreak that has infected more than 30,000 people and is wreaking havoc worldwide.

Pangolins are protected animals, but illegal trafficking is widespread, and some species are critically endangered. They are sold, controversially, for their meat and scales, and for use in traditional Chinese medicine, in which parts of the animal are used to treat ailments such as skin diseases, menstrual disorders and arthritis. Chinese law states that people selling pangolins can be punished by 10 years or more in prison.<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2 Did pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?], ''Nature Research'', 07 FEBRUARY 2020</ref>}}

Pangolins are protected animals, but illegal trafficking is widespread, and some species are critically endangered. They are sold, controversially, for their meat and scales, and for use in traditional Chinese medicine, in which parts of the animal are used to treat ailments such as skin diseases, menstrual disorders and arthritis. Chinese law states that people selling pangolins can be punished by 10 years or more in prison.<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00364-2 Did pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?], ''Nature Research'', 07 FEBRUARY 2020</ref>}}

[[File:Chinese Cobra.jpg|thumbnail|200px|right|Some researchers believe the deadly coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China may have originated in snakes like the Chinese cobra pictured above.]]

[[File:Chinese Cobra.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|Some researchers believe the deadly coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China may have originated in snakes like the Chinese cobra pictured above.]]

Philly Voice reported:

Philly Voice reported:

{{Cquote|In the case of this 2019 coronavirus outbreak, reports state that most of the first group of patients hospitalized were workers or customers at a local seafood wholesale market which also sold processed meats and live consumable animals including poultry, donkeys, sheep, pigs, camels, foxes, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs and reptiles. However, since no one has ever reported finding a coronavirus infecting aquatic animals, it is plausible that the coronavirus may have originated from other animals sold in that market.

{{Cquote|In the case of this 2019 coronavirus outbreak, reports state that most of the first group of patients hospitalized were workers or customers at a local seafood wholesale market which also sold processed meats and live consumable animals including poultry, donkeys, sheep, pigs, camels, foxes, badgers, bamboo rats, hedgehogs and reptiles. However, since no one has ever reported finding a coronavirus infecting aquatic animals, it is plausible that the coronavirus may have originated from other animals sold in that market.