Did you read about Melaka virus? Don't worry, you will not get it just by going there!
This newly-discovered virus was isolated from a man from Malacca who fell ill (high fever, flu-like symptoms) after a bat flew into his house back in 2006. His two children and wife subsequently fell ill as well. All have since recovered. (The Star article) It was a team of Malaysian and Australian scientists who carried out the investigations.
The latest update today was that the Malaysian state government objected to the name as "it is an insult to the state". It could certainly affect tourism.
Apparently, there is another virus isolated from fruit bats on Tioman Island, and the name of the virus? Pulau virus! Haha, for a moment, I thought it would be Tioman virus. Will there ever be a Singapura virus?
All these changed a lot of my perspective of bats and Batman. Taking into account that Nipah virus (which affected the pigs in 1999) and SARS virus could be isolated from bats, I will not invite Batman to my house!
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