There is overwhelming evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 jumped from animals to humans, rather than escaping from a laboratory, virus experts say.

Conspiracy theories suggest the virus escaped a Chinese lab due to lax security. The Trump administration is investigating that possibility, Fox News has reported.

But scientists have been warning for years another coronavirus was poised to jump from animals to humans and kickstart a pandemic.

Deforestation, urban sprawl and the climate crisis has been steadily increasing the risk of that happening.

"We have been warning about this for some time now," said Dr Joshua Hayward, a bat virus researcher at the Burnet Institute. "And I don’t believe anyone has been listening."