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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Alex Wellman

The Simpsons fans convinced show predicted coronavirus outbreak in 1993 episode

The Simpsons fans are convinced the show predicted the outbreak of coronavirus in an episode first broadcast in 1993.

The bizarre claim emerged on social media after stunned fans began posting about the similarities between an episode of the show titled 'Marge in Chains' and the current outbreak.

In the 27-year-old episode of the show, a virus called Osaka Flu spreads through Springfield after residents order juicers from Japan.

The goods are packed into boxes - but not before sick workers cough all over them - sending the virus to America.

Fans of the show flocked to Twitter to discuss the similarities between the episode and the outbreak - despite the fact The Simpsons' virus came from Japan while the current real-life one originated in China.

One person tweeted: "The Simpsons, 1993, this goddamn series predicted coronavirus. My mind is blown."

Another added: "THE SIMPSONS DON’T MISS."

This is not the first time fans have become convinced the hit cartoon has predicted the future.

All the way back in 1997, The Simpsons predicted the ebola crisis. In the episode, Marge tries to coax poorly Bart out of bed with a book called ' Curious George and the Ebola Virus ', and in it there's a grim drawing of dead bodies and blood.

Sadly, the outbreak became all too real more than a decade later.

More famously, back in 2000 the show eerily predicted Donald Trump would become president of the USA.

And in an episode titled 'When You Dish Upon A Star' which aired on 8 November 1998, one scene showed the outside of the 20 Century Fox studio.

Beneath the famous logo it reads "A Division of Walt Disney" - more than 20 years before the mega-deal would actually go through.

So far more than 200 people have died from the virus with hundreds more infected.

Coronavirus is thought to have begun in a food market in China before spreading across the globe - with a number of cases now confirmed in the UK.

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