Researchers in Thailand have begun collecting samples from horseshoe bats to test them for the coronavirus amid concerns they may pose a threat to local residents, Reuters reports.

The researchers plan to collect 300 bats over three days from a cave in the Chanthaburi province in the southeast of the country. The bats will be released following the tests.

The source of the novel coronavirus remains a matter of debate after it emerged in China late last year.

The World Health Organisation in April said that all available evidence suggests that it originated in bats in China, but it was not clear how the virus had jumped the species barrier to humans.