A warning message about a "new killer insect" that spreads a deadly skin-disfiguring virus infection through skin contact has gone viral online. But the warning, which has been circulated widely online, causing panic among susceptible social media users, is a hoax.
The hoax warning, accompanied by alarming images, the stuff of a hypochondriac's nightmares, appears to have emerged on social media in January 2016.
It claims the emergence of a "new killer insect" that spreads a gruesomely disfiguring skin condition.
The purveyors of the online hoax display a photo of an insect, with a warning to viewers to never touch any creepy-crawly that looks remotely like the insect because touching it or attempting to kill it with bare hands infects with a deadly virus that spreads to the rest of the body in a matter of minutes!