A top U.S. medical official on Thursday said the coronavirus could have spread in China through cat feasts.
In a meeting with Vice President Mike Pence, who is heading the anti-virus effort, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Anthony Fauci explained “the science behind” the virus: that it spreads from a bat, to a cat, and then to humans in China.
According to a press pool report on the meeting, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said the disease jumped from species to species.
H/T @maggieNYT From VP pool: Fauci described the science behind the #coronavirus, saying it jumped from a bat to a “civet cat” served at feasts in China and then humans. A civet cat pictured here. Also known as a “skunk”. Fauci saying the virus almost certainly jumped specifies. pic.twitter.com/ZO39lnKTWQ
— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) February 27, 2020
“Fauci described the science behind the coronavirus, saying it jumped from a bat to a ‘civic cat’ served at feasts in China and then humans,” said the pool report, referring to “civet cats,” which are considered a delicacy in parts of China.
“‘Lo and behold now … we have a new Coronavirus,’ Fauci said. He said they are ‘almost certain’ the virus jumped species. ‘This virus has adapted extremely well to human species … this one has the capability of spreading readily from human to human,’ Fauci said,” according to the report of the meeting at HHS.
Reports have linked both bats and the cats to the virus. The cat was also linked to the 2003 SARS epidemic.
