The henipavirus is said to have been identified among humans in China, infecting 35 farmers and other residents ‘likely due to contact with shrews’, Fortune reported.

The World Health Organization (WHO) lists the henipavirus family of pathogens on its prioritization list for vaccines and therapeutics in public health emergency contexts.

“This idea of zoonotic spillover is so exaggerated,” asserted @maryhollandnyc, @ChildrensHD president-on-leave, “this is just pure fear mongering.”