We greatly appreciate Mongabay for its handling of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala, India. Its story, “Nipah infection in Kerala: Don’t blame the bats alone; improve public health,” appeared on May 30, authored by Haritha John and Gopikrishna Warrier. Needless alarm was avoided by balanced reporting. As so often is the case, the rarest threats make the biggest news. Fortunately, in this instance, the news was accurate, so did not cause needless panic.
Fruit-eating bats appear to be the natural reservoir for this virus. However, Nipah is easily avoidable, as noted in the Mongabay article. Human infections originate from drinking unpasteurized palm juice or from contact with pigs who have eaten contaminated fruit. The reported outbreak did kill 14 people, mostly from person-to-person transmission within a family and their immediate contacts. However, put in perspective, it was hardly grounds for the kind of panic too often created by needlessly scary speculation of potential pandemics killing millions. Thanks to level-headed health officials and media coverage, eradication of ecologically and economically essential bats was avoided.
