'Thailand's Snake Girl' Mai Li Fay Post Goes Viral, Declared Hoax

An article about a young girl with the lower body of a snake in Thailand, circulating on the social media has turned out to be a hoax.

According to World News Daily Report, eight-year-old girl Mai Li Fay from Bangkok, Thailand, suffers from a rare syndrome known as the Serpentosis Malianorcis or Jing Jing's disease.

"According to the country's top medical expert, Dr Ping Lao, the young girl suffers a very rare syndrome known as the Serpentosis Malianorcis or Jing Jing's disease, which gives her lower body a distinct reptilian form and aspect. Only a handful of such cases have been recorded throughout history, so the scientific knowledge accumulated about the pathology is rather limited and there is no cure in sight at the moment," the website reported.

The report also claims that thousands of "pilgrims" have visited the girl.

However, Hoax Slayer stated that the World News Daily Report "specialises in churning out unmitigated nonsense. The site features all manner of odd tales, including a horse with a duck's head, gigantic home invading lobsters, and a circus lion who has shamefully confessed to being a vegetarian."

David Emery with About.com wrote noted that the photo has been around for a few years.

He noted that "a search of the US Library of Medicine database yields no results for "Serpentosis Malianorcis," nor for "Jing Jing's disease." There is no such syndrome. Nor is there a "top medical expert" in Thailand named Dr Ping Lao."

A 30-second video posted on YouTube on 3 April, 2013 titled "HALF GIRL HALF SNAKE!" has garnered two million views.