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Revolting pictures have emerged of the filthy conditions inside the illegal live animal market at the centre of the lethal coronavirus crisis.

The Huanan Seafood Market in the central China city of Wuhan, China, is now believed to be "ground zero" for the spread of the viral condition that has so far claimed 42 lives in China.

The previously unknown strain, which causes symptoms such as fever, cough and breathing difficulties, is believed to have emerged late last year from illegally traded wildlife at the animal market. Early cases of people infected with the killer respiratory condition are said to have worked there.

Porcupines, foxes, bats, rats, snakes, wolf pups and koalas are all fair game at the market place, which is blamed as being the breeding ground for the disease as people come into contact with infected meat.

Pictures of the popular marketplace show dirty floors and walls splattered with blood as workers skin rodents in disgusting conditions.

The market has now been shut down, but photos taken before its closure in December show a price list of 112 exotic animals – from snakes to civet cats – were available for sale, says the South China Morning Post.

Gao Fu, director of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, blamed the site for the killer illness, saying: “The origin of the new coronavirus is the wildlife sold illegally in a Wuhan seafood market.”

(Image: WEibo)

The coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan has killed 42 people in China and infected more than 1,400 globally, most of them in China where major cities have been put into lockdown.

China appears to be buckling under the pressure to contain the virus. In Hubei province, where Wuhan is located, officials appealed for masks and protective suits. "We are steadily pushing forward the disease control and prevention ... But right now we are facing an extremely severe public health crisis," Hu Yinghai, deputy director-general of the Civil Affairs Department, told a news briefing.

According to leading virologists in the UK each person infected with coronavirus is passing the disease on to between two and three other people on average at current transmission rates.

It followed two two separate scientific analyses of the epidemic.

(Image: WEibo)

Wuhan said it would ban non-essential vehicles from its downtown starting Sunday, further paralysing a city of 11 million that has been on virtual lockdown since Thursday, with nearly all flights cancelled and checkpoints blocking the main roads leading out of town.

Authorities have also imposed transport restrictions on nearly all of Hubei province, which has a population of 59 million.

President Xi Jinping said China is facing a "grave situation" as the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak overshadows celebrations of the Lunar New Year that began on Saturday.

(Image: WEibo)

Hong Kong has also declared a virus emergency, scrapping New Year celebrations and restricting transport links to mainland China.

Australia confirmed its first four cases on Saturday, Malaysia confirmed four and France reported Europe's first three cases on Friday, as health authorities around the world scramble to prevent a pandemic.

(Image: WEibo)

Thailand has reported five cases; Australia has reported 4, Singapore, France, Japan, Taiwan and Malaysia 3 Vietnam, South Korea and the United States 2 and Nepal 1.

As of Saturday afternoon, 31 people across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been tested for the deadly flu-like virus, however all tests have come back negative, according to the Department of Health (DoH).

This indicates tests on 17 people have been completed in the last 24 hours, after 14 people had been given the all-clear by Friday afternoon.

(Image: WEibo)

There are also no confirmed diagnoses in UK citizens abroad, and the risk to the public is still classed as low.

Meanwhile the US has pledged to evacuate its citizens from Wuhan, China on a special charter flight on Sunday.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said scientists hope to be testing the first possible vaccines in three months' time.