Research on bats should not be limited to China

Researchers in China have extensively surveyed and sampled bats in the country without identifying a virus in them that is similar enough to the novel coronavirus to be considered the virus' source, said Liang Wannian, the team leader of the Chinese side of the China-World Health Organization joint expert team.

"Bats of different types are widely dispersed around the globe, and some regions have never launched systematic research on them," he said. "As scientists agree that bats should be a focus during the probe into the virus' origin, relevant research should not be limited to China but take a wider perspective to cover all countries and regions inhabited by bats."