BEIJING: Amid global efforts to contain the outbreak of deadly coronavirus, which has so far claimed the lives of over 1,800 people, it has now come to light that a thriller published nearly 40 years ago had predicted the outbreak of a similar disease in China. Author Dean Koontz had predicted the coronavirus outbreak in his 1981 thriller “The Eyes of Darkness.”
The fictional novel revolves around a Chinese military lab that creates a new virus to potentially use as a biological weapon during wartime. Interestingly, the lab is ironically located in Wuhan, China and the made-up virus is called Wuhan-400.
The Chinese military lab finds mention in chapter 39 of his book. It may be noted that Wuhan province – the epicentre of coronavirus outbreak – is one of the most affected regions of China.
In his novel, Koontz called the virus the “perfect weapon” because it only affects humans. It also cannot survive outside the human body for more than a minute and does not require an expensive decontamination process once it spreads through a population and those who contract it.
The coincidence between the book’s virus and the actual coronavirus outbreak is uncanny.
Congress leader Manish Tewari has also tweeted excerpts from a book that went viral on the Internet that the coronavirus involved in the outbreak in China’s Wuhan appears to be man-made.
“Is Coranavirus a biological Weapon developed by the Chinese called Wuhan -400? This book was published in 1981. Do read the excerpt,” Congress leader Manish Tewari tweeted.
As the post went viral, Twitterati flooded social media with their reactions. The death toll from China’s coronavirus epidemic climbed to 1,886 on Tuesday (February 18, 2020) as 98 more people died while the total number of confirmed cases jumped to 72,436, officials said.
Of the new deaths, 93 were reported from Hubei Province, the epicentre of the virus, three from Henan, and one each from Hebei and Hunan, said the National Health Commission. Hubei reported 1,807 new confirmed cases, taking the total number of such cases to 59,989 in the province. Another 1,432 new suspected cases were reported from the rest of China.
Meanwhile, Top World Health Organisation experts, including from the US, have joined the fight against the virus, called COVID-19, in China. China confirmed that the 12-member WHO team includes Americans, as sought by the US.
Bureau Report
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