Chinese man eats live frog in sickening video

A sickening video of a Chinese social media influencer eating a live frog has emerged amid the coronavirus outbreak in China.

While experts are tracing the origin of the deadly virus, many have suggested that the pneumonia-like disease could be down to a trend of eating live animals.

Yanzhong Huang, a public health expert at the Council for Foreign Relations, told Time magazine: "This is just part of Chinese culture. They love to eat anything alive."

He added that eating exotic animals can boost 'male potency', according to advocates.

However, wet markets, especially those selling live animals, could be another contributing factor to the outbreak.

A mixture of urine, faeces and other bodily fluids from live, wild creatures ends up mixing with blood from butchered animals, providing ideal opportunities for viruses and bacteria to thrive, it is reported.

In the gruesome clip taken in 2016, a man is seen picking a live frog from a stall inside a wet market before he bites onto its head.

He rips the frog's head off and tears off its skin, revealing the bloodied meat and organs.

He then devours the frog's brain in front of the camera.

It's understood that the man is a known influencer who eats exotic animals during his livestream videos.

Web users who watched the clip again were disgusted by the man's behaviour.

One said: "I am not surprised that coronavirus started spreading in China, look at this guy."

Another one wrote: "This is absolutely stomach-churning. He just picked it up from a stall inside a wet market."

More than 2,000 people have been infected with coronavirus as of January 25, while the death toll has risen to 56.

The virus, believed to be originated from Wuhan of central China, has spread to other countries including the US, Thailand, Canada, South Korea, France, and Australia.