Doctors in China have established that the deadly coronavirus targets the lungs of its victims, according to a local media report on Friday.

Axar.az reports citing Turkish media.

The autopsy of an 85-year-old man who died in Wuhan, China, showed that the lungs were the key area of damage.

The victim was hospitalized in Wuhan -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- on Jan. 1 and died 28 days later.

“The lungs are most affected by the coronavirus with insufficient evidence of damage to other organs,” said a report on the autopsy published in the February edition of China’s Journal of Forensic Medicine.

It said inflammatory lesions were focused on the patient’s lungs, and that the pathological features of the COVID-19 disease were similar to those of SARS and MERS.

However, the scientists behind the report said there was a need for more research to understand the effects of COVID-19 on other human organs.