Zhong Nanshan confirmed that the novel coronavirus could be transmitted through the digestive tract, warning the public to pay even closer attention to hygiene, according to Nanfang Daily.

Zhong is the head of a national team of experts set up for control and prevention of the coronavirus and an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Chinese experts in Wuhan found viral nucleic acids in patients' stools and rectal swabs after noticing that the initial symptoms of some patients infected with the coronavirus was diarrhea only, and not fever, which is more common.

Based on the current study, fecal-oral transmission is not the main transmission route, emphasized Hou at the press conference.