The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Awards Committee has selected The Hindu’s article —“ Nipah Virus: Anatomy of an Outbreak ” by Priyanka Pulla — for an ‘Honorable Mention’ for the 2018 ASTMH Communications Award.
The article was published on June 2, 2018.
The ASTMH Communications Award recognises excellence in tropical medicine storytelling through the written word.
The goal of the award is to recognise content that enhances the public’s understanding and appreciation of tropical medicine research, clinical practice and policy.
‘Public’s understanding’
ASTMH recognised Ms. Pulla’s article as an important contribution to the public’s understanding of tropical disease, noting that the quality of her reporting and writing boded well for the tropical medicine community and for science in general since easy-to-comprehend and accurate science reporting was essential to informing the public.
Awards including the mention were announced at a ceremony at the annual meeting of the society in New Orleans on October 28.
The 2018 Communications Award was won by Lena Sun of The Washington Post for her article “Chasing a Killer,” on efforts by scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Congo Republic to track the monkeypox virus’s origins.
“The hunt for a future killer” an article on zoonotic diseases and the ongoing efforts of one research team to track the viruses in rural Uganda also earned Mark Johnson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel an ‘Honorable Mention’.