Richard Engel of NBC is upset that people are calling this new contagion the wuhan Flu or the China Flu. Dick says we are scapegoating the Chinese, and he wants us to blame bats instead.
Yes, Bats anywhere could easily carry serious infectious diseases. That is not in question. Any animal can be a vector for disease. Ebola and several other devastating diseases originate with rats. We don't blame it on the rats, they don't choose to be eaten.
So, while this new contagion may have come from a bat, it is not because the bat flew down and blew kisses to some poor schmuck. It is because the bat was killed. It was then prepared in an unsafe manner and sold to people looking for meat to supplement their diet. That sick bat's carcass quite possibly was in contact with other cuts of wild game and the virus settled on them as well. In the end, poor sanitation is what started this whole mess.
No one is wanting to bomb China flat just because we got an extra flu bug this year. No one is calling for boycotts of Chinese resturants. Protesters are not blocking Chinese markets any place in the United States, and Americans of Chinese decent are not living in fear of being assaulted in their homes because of this. Dick should get his priorities in order and defend the bats.
After all, he is batshit crazy.
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