Since early January 2025, more than 207 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) have been reported from Pune, many of them from within a 5 km radius of Sinhagad Road. On the 12th of February, Mumbai recorded its first death from GBS. At the same time, Bengaluru traffic police put out a cautionary video on precautions to take to prevent the spread of the disease.  The outbreak in Pune has been linked to a pathogen known as Campylobacter jejuni, a major cause of foodborne infections and the leading contributor to GBS cases worldwide.

In February, when the news of the first few confirmed cases of coronavirus in India came to light, we as a nation warmed up to the ‘Wuhan virus’, now at our doorstep. The mainstream media rushed to report on emerging new cases and debated if our infrastructure could handle this epidemic. Social media was abuzz with guidelines and ‘pro-tips’ on what and what not to do, nevermind the accuracy.