Congress leader shares picture of fiction novel, asks if coronavirus is a Chinese biological weapon
An excerpt from a 1981 book written by an American author talks elaborately about a bioweapon developed by the Chinese government called the Wuhan 400
February 17, 2020 / 02:59 PM IST
As the number of deaths reported due to infections from the coronavirus continues to rise, a leader of the Indian National Congress has questioned if the pathogen is a biological weapon developed by the Chinese.
Congress leader Manish Tewari took to Twitter on February 16 where he wrote, "Is Coranavirus a biological Weapon developed by the Chinese called Wuhan -400? This book was published in 1981. Do read the excerpt."
He also shared a picture of the cover of a fictional novel written in 1981 by American author Dean Koontz called ‘The Eyes of Darkness’, and a passage from the book.
The passage highlighted in the fictional story coincidentally described how a virus, called Wuhan 400, was developed in a research facility outside of the city of Wuhan, which ironically is the epicentre of the coronavirus.
The virus is called the "perfect weapon" in the novel as it could only affect humans, and cannot survive outside of a live human body, which reduces the risk of permanent contamination of objects and places.
As of February 17, the coronavirus, which first emerged in central China at the end of last year, has now killed nearly 1,800 people and spread around the world. The latest figures from China show there are more than 70,000 people infected in the country.
(With inputs from PTI.)