Chinese scientists have found traces of the new coronavirus in the faeces of some infected patients, possibly indicating an additional mode of transmitting the deadly disease.

Health authorities had previously thought the main ways the disease was spread was through respiratory droplet transmission and contact, including touching the face after exposure to a surface containing the virus.

But new findings from Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital raise the possibility of faecel-oral transmission, after researchers found genetic traces of coronavirus  in patients’ stool samples.

The presence of the 2019 coronavirus RNA, or ribonucleic acid – a molecule that carries genetic codes in some viruses – indicates the disease may live in faeces, the Shenzhen Health Commission said in a statement on Saturday.