Did a 1981 novel rightly predict coronavirus outbreak?

NEW DELHI: A novel called "The Eyes of Darkness" written by Dean Koontz in 1981 talks about a virus called Wuhan-400 which was created as a biological weapon outside the city of Wuhan. A twitter user pointed this out and since then netizens have expressed their views on this bizarre coincidence through tweets.

https://twitter.com/DarrenPlymouth/status/1229110623222554626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1229110623222554626&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatoday.in%2Ftrending-news%2Fstory%2F-novel-predicted-wuhan-virus-40-years-before-coronavirus-outbreak-internet-is-stumped-1647261-2020-02-17

According to the latest WHO reports, 1666 deaths have occurred so far. 51 174 laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported so far.

Scientists have identified a pattern of symptoms associated with the Novel Coronavirus, now dubbed as COVID-19, and the most common symptom is fever. Other common symptoms include fatigue, dry cough, muscle pain and difficulty breathing, according to a recent study of nearly 140 hospitalized patients in Wuhan, China. It took nearly five days on average for a patient to experience breathing issues after first showing symptoms, reports Business Insider citing the study. Some patients also showed symptoms associated with common cold or flu such sore throat but those were small in numbers.

A scientist involved in developing a coronavirus vaccine at Australia’s University of Queensland has said that it may take about one year before people will actually be able to use it.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a partnership against epidemics by the public, private, philanthropic, and civil organizations earlier commissioned the University of Queensland (UQ) to urgently work to produce a vaccine against the recently emerged coronavirus.

“It can take four to six months for a vaccine candidate to be tested and shown to be effective in animal models. It can take another three to four months to complete human clinical trials,” Professor Paul Young, Head, School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, told IANS in an email interview. “It could be 12 months before we have a manufactured and regulatory approved vaccine for clinical use,” Young said.

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