Bats are widely believed by experts to be carriers of the virus and were reportedly sold at Wuhan's Huanan seafood market Shi Zhengli, a researcher with the Wuhan Institute of Virology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the real problem was in people's behaviour, rather than with the animals.
"The simplest way to prevent such infectious diseases is to stay away from wildlife, say no to game, avoid their habitats and livestock and farms mixing with wildlife," Shi said.
Horrifying video shows the woman sitting in a posh restaurant eating a bat in the Chinese city of Wuhan - ground zero for the deadly coronavirus.
The video shows the woman holding the large bat with chopsticks before she begins to nibble at the wing as a man looks on and encourages her.
The video was circulated earlier this week by a Hong Kong-based news service.
Another Twitter video, shared by a popular Chinese blogger, shows Cantonese-speaking diners about to dine on bat bouillabaisse at a restaurant.
The Mandarin caption reads: "[After] experiencing this matter, can Chinese people give up eating wildlife?"
The Huanan market was shut down in late December at the start of the outbreak and is now under surveillance by security staff.
Hu Xingdou, an independent political economist, said Chinese people's love for eating wildlife had deep cultural, economic and political roots.
"While the West values freedom and other human rights, Chinese people view food as their primary need because starving is a big threat and an unforgettable part of the national memory," Hu said.
"While feeding themselves might not be a problem for many Chinese nowadays, But eating novel food or meat, organs or parts from rare animals or plants has become a measure of identity to some people."
The 2003 Sars outbreak saw a decline in consumption of exotic animals by normally adventurous Chinese diners in the following years.
Coronavirus could have spread from bat soup to humans, experts have claimed.
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