Mon 17 February 2020:
More than 1700 people have died in China because of the coronavirus outbreak. The Chinese city Wuhan is the epicenter of the virus which has now spread to over 25 countries. But did you know a fiction book predicted the Wuhan virus around 40 years ago?
A thriller novel The Eyes of Darkness, written by Dean Koontz in 1981, mentioned a virus named Wuhan-400. In the novel, the virus was created as a weapon in a laboratory.
The American author, Dean Koontz’s suspense thrillers have often appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. In chapter 39 of his book, Koontz writes about a virus developed in military labs near the city of Wuhan by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a biological weapon, reported Liberty Times.
The scientist leading the Wuhan-400 research is called Li Chen (李陳), who defects to the U.S. with information about China’s most dangerous chemical weapons. Wuhan-400 affects people rather than animals and cannot survive outside the human body or in environments colder than 30 degrees Celsius.
The similarities between the made-up virus and the Wuhan virus has got Twitter users struggling to comprehend the improbable coincidence. One big difference: Wuhan-400 has a 100 percent kill-rate, while the Wuhan virus does not.
Older versions of the book refer to the disease as “Gorki-400.”
Some people were skeptical about Koontz’s prediction 39 years ago, however, pointing out that earlier editions of the book refer to the virus as Gorki-400, a production of the Soviet Union. In response, several netizens have posted pictures of the book’s newer editions to explain the name of the virus was indeed altered, possibly due to the end of the Cold War in 1991, reported SET News.
A Twitter user with the handle @DarrenPlymouth brought this cryptic reference to light on social media. The user posted the cover of the book and shared an excerpt from the book which has the mention of the virus Wuhan-400 in it.
“It is a strange world we live in,” the tweet read.
It’s a strange world we live in.#coronavirus #COVID19 #Wuhan pic.twitter.com/WkjbK4zGaW
— Darren of Plymouth ?? (@DarrenPlymouth) February 16, 2020
Fiction can definitely be strange at times.
Internet is absolutely stumped with the reference of Wuhan virus in this book. In fact, netizens had a lot to say on this. Here’s what they said:
When fiction is stranger than fact.. Written nearly 40 years ago, Dean Koontz’ #TheEyesOfDarkness mentions a virus called Wuhan-400, created as a bioweapon.. #StrangeCoincidences #Titanic #Futility https://t.co/fJKhNFhQOe https://t.co/rlSJK7q5x2
— Annu Jalais (@AnnuJal) February 17, 2020
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