The state of Melaka is upset that scientists have named a new bat-borne virus after it. CSIRO scientists have played a key role in discovering that bats are the likely host of a new virus that can cause a serious but apparently non-fatal respiratory tract illness in humans.
The new virus was named Melaka after the location in Malaysia where it was isolated in early 2006 from a human patient who showed signs of fever and acute respiratory illness. This is the only recorded case of the Melaka virus infecting a human.
Melaka virus is a type of reovirus (Respiratory Enteric Orphan viruses) that was first isolated in humans in the early 1950s and so named because they were not associated with any known disease.
Chief Minister Ali Rustam said the state does not want to be associated with the virus and called the name choice “an insult” to Melaka, which is a popular tourist destination because of its historical sites. “Melaka is a good state, beautiful and peaceful, not the birthplace of diseases,” a daily quoted him as saying. Ali said the state government would lodge a formal protest with Malaysia’s health ministry.
According to the leader of the CSIRO team, Dr Linfa Wang, although the symptoms were severe and persisted for four days, there is no evidence to suggest Melaka virus is fatal. The scientists at AAHL used scientific techniques including virology, serology, electron microscopy and molecular biology to establish whether the virus was a reovirus and if so, to what species group it belonged.