Netizens turn to bizarre conspiracy theories around coronavirus outbreak

As the world is scrambling to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, conspiracy theorists across the globe are coming up with bizarre claims about the contagious disease. According to reports, conspiracy theorists are even claiming that the virus outbreak was predicted by the 16th-century prophet Nostradamus.

Some are also claiming that the virus outbreak is a top-secret biochemical weapon accidentally unleashed by China at a laboratory in Wuhan, the epicentre of the disease. 

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In one such claim, people are sharing an excerpt from Dean Koontz's 1981 thriller novel The Eyes of Darkness where she has written about a disease called 'Wuhan-400'.

As per reports, the viral excerpt from the novel reads, "To understand that, you have to go back twenty months. It was around then a Chinese scientist named Li Chen defected to the United States, carrying a diskette record of China's most important and dangerous new biological weapon in a decade. They call the stuff 'Wuhan-400' because it was developed at their RDNA labs outside of the city of Wuhan."

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Authors Lindsay Harrison and Sylvia Browne in their 2008 book End of Days: Predictions and Prophecies About the End of the World, reportedly mentioned that in around 2020 a severe pneumonia-like illness will spread throughout the globe, attacking the lungs and the bronchial tubes and resisting all known treatments.

The authors further propounded that the illness will suddenly vanish only to return after ten years and will attack again and then disappear completely.

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Coronavirus outbreak

The new coronavirus also known as COVID-19 has claimed more than 3,200 lives across the globe and has infected over 95,000 people since December 2019. According to reports, at least 268 people have died outside mainland China, which makes it the worst disease outbreak in the 21st century.

The virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, where animals were being traded illegally as per reports. Hubei province in China has been most affected by the contagious disease, which is also the epicentre of the virus. 

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Lead Image Credit: AP