Asterix comic featured masked villain 'Coronavirus' in the year 2017

Written by Thibaut Deleaz, an illustration from the edition -- shared by Actor Jaaved Jaaferi on his Twitter handle -- shows "the Masked Auriga, the Great Coronavirus" being introduced. "Here comes our favourite, straight from Rome! The Champion with MCDL XII victories! The one they call the 'The Masked Auriga', the great Coronavirus, and his faithful Bacillus," it says. Image credit: Twitter/ @jaavedjaaferi

The original book 'Asterix et la Transitalique' set in ancient Italy was released over two years before Wuhan reported its first case of the new strain of coronavirus in December 2019. Written by Jean-Yves Ferri and drawn by Didier Conrad, the comic features Asterix and his sidekick Obelix participate in a chariot race across Italy organised by Caesar across Italy. They have to contend with the villain named Coronavirus and his sidekick Bacillus.
Bacillus is the Latin term for bacteria! It is interesting to note that Coronavirus the masked villainous chariot racer eventually failed to win.



In the image: Grand Carnival Parade, a group of people in the carnival costumes impersonating the characters from the Asterix and Obelix comic books.

Meanwhile, while the outbreak is recent, the word coronavirus is not new.
The World Health Organisation describes coronavirus as a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).

The SARS-CoV was identified in the year 2003.

China's National Health Commission said on Monday the death toll rose to 908. This followed as employees began returning to offices and factories around China after the government eased the restrictions on work and travel.



There were 3,062 new confirmed infections as of Sunday, across the mainland China, bringing the total number so far to 40,171.A team of international experts led by the World Health Organization (WHO) is set for Beijing to help investigate the epidemic.