A 1981 novel by bestselling author Dean Koontz described a deadly virus originating in the same Chinese city where the current coronavirus outbreak was first reported.
According to the New York Post, an excerpt from Koontz's "The Eyes of Darkness" is being shared online. The newspaper noted it deals with a virus with a resemblance to the coronavirus.
"They call the stuff 'Wuhan-400' because it was developed at their RDNA labs outside the city of Wuhan," a character says in the book.
The quote refers to the same city at the epicenter of the current outbreak.
The plot in the book called it the "perfect weapon" to "wipe out a city or country."
But the website Snopes said there are major differences between what Koontz describes in the book and the current coronavirus.
It noted in Koontz's novel, the virus is a human-made weapon. The coronavirus is not. The book describes "Wuhan-400" as having a 100% fatality rate. It said the current fatality rate of the coronavirus is about 2%.
And it said other iterations of the book called the virus the "Gorki-400" after the Russian city where it was created.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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