Conspiracy theorists and fans of a thriller writer are convinced he predicted the coronavirus pandemic almost 40 years ago.
Author Dean Koontz wrote about Wuhan-400 in his bestselling novel The Eyes of Darkness which was originally published back in 1981.
The deadly disease in the book is named after the place it originated – Wuhan in China, much the same as the current coronavirus outbreak.
But it appears that's where the similarities may end.
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In Mr Koontz, The Eyes Of Darkness, Wuhan-400 is a bioweapon that kills everyone it comes into contact with in the first 12 hours.
In the book, one of the characters says Wuhan-400 would wipe out a city or a country' without the need for "expensive decontamination".
The book reads: '"Wuhan-400 is a perfect weapon. It afflicts only human beings.
"No other living creature can carry it. And like syphilis, Wuhan-400 can't survive outside a living human body for longer than a minute, which means it can't permanently contaminate objects or entire places the way anthrax and other virulent microorganisms can."
Covid-19 has killed just 2-3% of those who have caught the virus.
It is thought coronavirus can survive on surfaces for more than 24 hours.
Back in Mr Koontz book, Wuhan-400 kills people by attacking the brain.
It reads: "The virus migrates to the brain stem, and there it begins secreting a toxin that literally eats away brain tissue like battery acid dissolving cheesecloth.
"It destroys the part of the brain that controls all of the body's automatic functions.'
Covid-19 on the other hand mainly affects the respiratory system, with a tell-tale symptom being a dry, persistent cough.
Also, in the biggest blow to conspiracy theorists, Wuhan was not Mr Koontz first choice of home for the deadly killing disease.
According to the Daily Mail, in the first edition of The Eyes of Darkness the virus was originally called Gorki-400.
It was named after the Russian city where he had originally placed the bioweapons lab, before moving it to China in later editions.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, Mr Koontz rewrote his masterpiece and changed the villain to be Chinese.
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