A virus isolated from the patients who suffered acute respiratory illness after a bat flew around in their living room in Malaysian State Malacca (in Bahasa Malaysia, Malacca is Melaka) was named Melaka Virus recently by scientists, but the name apparently have upset the State's Chief Minister, Ali Rustam, who called the name choice an insult to Malacca.
"Melaka [which is a popular tourist destination due to its historical sites] is a good state, beautiful and peaceful, not the birthplace of diseases," he was quoted as saying.
After receiving the formal protest of Ali Rustam, Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said the Melaka Virus would be renamed.
Bat-borne virus is not new to the humankind, e.g. fruit bats were once blamed for Ebola outbreaks in Gabon.
