‘Didn’t know it’s virus reservoir’: Chinese travel blogger forced to apologize for eating BAT on camera
A Chinese blogger has landed in hot water after a video of her enjoying a 'bat dish' resurfaced amid an outbreak of a previously-unknown deadly coronavirus, which has been linked to bat meat.
Video of a woman eating bat in 2016 recently went viral on Chinese social media, causing public condemn. She later apologized for her ignorance. According to a report by China Academy of Science, the virus caused #coronavirus outbreak is very similar to virus found in bats.
The video, which was originally published in 2017, shows popular blogger and travel show host Wang Mengyun tasting a cooked fruit bat in Palau, an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean. Smiling at the camera, the woman showcases the animal in a bowl, before dipping it in sauce and taking a bite.
"The bat tastes very fresh, like chicken meat," she says in the video.
The clip from the show resurfaced and went viral after Chinese scientists discovered that the new rapidly-spreading coronavirus, which has already killed 56 people in the country, is nearly identical to the coronavirus found in bats, a delicacy in some part of China.
Many commenters on social media deemed Wang's video unsettling and accused her of spreading a dangerous message by encouraging others to consume bats. "Every Chinese ppl think it's disgusting," one person wrote of Twitter.
The blogger promptly apologized, saying that she was "just trying to introduce the life of local people" to the viewers.
"I didn't know that bat is a primary reservoir of viruses ... I really did not check the information or explain its dangerous nature," she wrote, promising not to eat wild animals ever again. After the backlash, the video has been taken down from the channel.
A more recent video of another woman eating a bat at a restaurant has also been circulating on social media, which drew an equal amount of distaste.
The outbreak led to ten large cities in China being quarantined and triggered a health scare around the world. The cases of the virus were since registered in other countries, including three confirmed cases in the US.
The video, which was originally published in 2017, shows popular blogger and travel show host Wang Mengyun tasting a cooked fruit bat in Palau, an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean. Smiling at the camera, the woman showcases the animal in a bowl, before dipping it in sauce and taking a bite.
"The bat tastes very fresh, like chicken meat," she says in the video.
The clip from the show resurfaced and went viral after Chinese scientists discovered that the new rapidly-spreading coronavirus, which has already killed 56 people in the country, is nearly identical to the coronavirus found in bats, a delicacy in some part of China.
Many commenters on social media deemed Wang's video unsettling and accused her of spreading a dangerous message by encouraging others to consume bats. "Every Chinese ppl think it's disgusting," one person wrote of Twitter.
The blogger promptly apologized, saying that she was "just trying to introduce the life of local people" to the viewers.
"I didn't know that bat is a primary reservoir of viruses ... I really did not check the information or explain its dangerous nature," she wrote, promising not to eat wild animals ever again. After the backlash, the video has been taken down from the channel.
A more recent video of another woman eating a bat at a restaurant has also been circulating on social media, which drew an equal amount of distaste.
The outbreak led to ten large cities in China being quarantined and triggered a health scare around the world. The cases of the virus were since registered in other countries, including three confirmed cases in the US.