Fans of the 2011 movie Contagion have pointed out the film's eerie parallels with the ongoing deadly outbreak of coronavirus.

In the thriller staring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, a fast-moving mystery virus kills tens of millions worldwide as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tries in vain to stop the outbreak.

A flashback in the movie shows just how the fictional virus emerged - with a bat in China infecting a pig that was later handled by a chef who came in contact with Paltrow's character, who became Patient Zero.

With a bat now suspected as the origin of the coronavirus outbreak that began in China's Wuhan, fans of the film are now suggesting it may have been darkly prophetic.

In the 2011 thriller Contagion, Matt Damon stars as the husband of a woman who becomes Patient Zero on China trip. Fans are pointing out the movie's similarities with coronavirus

'For years I said that Contagion is one of the scariest films ever made and now here we are,' tweeted actor and director Stephen Ford.

'Everything looks eerily similar. Bat was the source,' another Twitter user wrote.

'This is some Contagion s**t with the bat stuff and in China!! The movie is happening in real life,' tweeted another.

'Reminds me of the movie Contagion. It’s always the bat guano. Can’t believe they eat it tho,' one person wrote.

The movie, directed by Steven Soderbergh, was generally praised by the scientific community for accurately depicting how a doomsday epidemic scenario might play out.

The film is said to have been modelled on the 2003 SARS outbreak, depicting what might happen if that virus had been even more deadly and contagious.

Now, fears are mounting that the real-life coronavirus outbreak might be even more serious than experts initially suspected.

‹ Slide me › The film Contaigion (left) seemed to mirror the real life outbreak (right) to some fans

The film depicts a grim scenario where a virus eventually kills tens of millions worldwide

A seafood market in Wuhan selling exotic live animals for consumption, including wolf pups, foxes, rats and peacocks, has been fingered as the possible epicenter of the current coronavirus outbreak. Bat soup is considered a delicacy in the region, and bats are known carriers of coronavirus strains.

On Friday, the Chinese government admitted that the virus has killed 25 people in China and infected more than 800 as the World Health Organisation declared it an emergency but stopped short of declaring the epidemic an international concern.

Most of the cases are in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus is believed to have originated late last year.

Non-fatal cases have been found in at least seven other countries, including the U.S.

Health officials fear the transmission rate could accelerate as hundreds of millions of Chinese travel at home and abroad during week-long holidays for the Lunar New Year, which begins on Saturday.

China moved to lock down at least three cities with a combined population of more than 18 million in an unprecedented effort to contain the deadly new virus during the busy Lunar New Year holiday.

The Coronavirus has now sickened people in several countries outside its center in China - but the World Health Organization doesn't believe it constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) yet on Thursday

A police officer stands guard outside of the shuttered Huanan Seafood Wholesale market in Wuhan, a possible epicenter that sold exotic live animals for human consumption

The open-ended lock downs are unmatched in size, affecting more people than the populations of New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago put together.

The train station and airport in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, were shut down, and ferry, subway and bus service was halted.

Normally bustling streets, shopping malls, restaurants and other public spaces in the city of 11 million were eerily quiet. Police checked all incoming vehicles but did not close off the roads.

Similar measures were being imposed Friday in the nearby cities of Huanggang and Ezhou. In Huanggang, theaters, internet cafes and other entertainment centres were also ordered to close.

Shocking footage has emerged from China showing hospitals flooded with hundreds of patients, and people collapsing where they stand in the street from the apparent effects of the virus.