Researchers in Uganda have discovered a complex network of animals that feed on bats infected with the Marburg virus, and for the first time have captured shocking footage of the potential risk of spreading the disease, Trud writes.
The observations, captured by cameras placed outside the entrance to the “Python Cave” in Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda, are the first confirmation “of a dynamic network of multi-species exposure at a known Marburg virus site,” the researchers say.
In a preprint of their findings, they write that the discovery of so many animals feeding on bats “may represent the Rosetta Stone for interpreting the mechanisms of zoonotic
spread in real time.”
Over a five-month period, between February and June last year, researchers filmed at least 14 different species of vertebrates visiting the cave to feed on bats, including leopards, several species of primates, birds of prey and monitor lizards.
One clip shows an adult leopard approaching the cave entrance, hitting bats as they fly out in huge numbers, and leaving with one in its mouth.
Other footage taken at the site in the Maramagambo forest shows a group of monkeys feeding on bats, along with civets and genets, other small mammalian predators.
The cave is home to about 56,000 Egyptian fruit bats and is in an area that has long been important for research into Marburg, a close relative of Ebola. The virus can have a fatality rate of up to 90%, and while several vaccines are in development, none have yet been approved.
In 2008, a Dutch tourist who visited Python Cave contracted and died from Marburg. An American tourist also contracted the disease after visiting the cave, but survived.
And in 2009, scientists from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) first isolated the Marburg virus from fruit bats found in a nearby cave.
The camera traps were placed in the cave as part of a project to collect data on the lions and hyenas living in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Orin Cornil, coordinator of the Kiambura Lions Project, said it was a surprise to film so many different species feeding on bats, about 7% of which carry the Marburg virus.
"What surprised me is that we saw blue monkeys, baboons, vervets going in there and catching bats. From a virological point of view, I think that's the craziest thing."
The leopard is really cool, and all the Genettas and the civets – and all the different types of birds are really cool to watch. But I think from a viral perspective, the monkeys are the scariest thing.”
The researchers stressed that they had seen no evidence of the actual spread of the virus.
“This could be something that has been going on for millennia – the Rift Valley and the Albertine Fault are ancient systems,” said Alexander Bratskovski, scientific director of the Kyambura Lion Project.
“We see a lot of the same species and actually some of the same individuals going into this cave and feeding, you know, for months on end.”
One particular leopard, which visited the cave repeatedly over a five-month period, was caught on camera eating numerous bats. It was nicknamed "Akahaya," a local word meaning "untouchable."
The researchers hope their findings can be a starting point for further studies into the risks of spread.
Bosco Atukwatse, another field coordinator for the Kyambura Lion Project, was the first to come up with the idea of installing cameras near the cave. He told The Telegraph that the characteristics of the cave make it uniquely suited to predators hoping to find an easy meal.
The cave entrance is partially sunken and low, and the piles of guano – bat excrement – that have accumulated over the years mean that even smaller animals can reach the bats.
Although bats are considered the main reservoir of the virus in the wild and can carry Marburg without becoming ill, there is evidence that other animals, including some primates, can spread the virus after contact with bats.
The researchers described the cave as a “crucible for proliferation,” noting that many of the species they observed feeding on bats are themselves eaten by humans as game.
The researchers' findings add to a growing body of evidence documenting previously unseen interactions between animal species that shed light on zoonotic risks.
Last year, researchers in Germany documented rats hunting bats for the first time, concerns raising about pandemic risks.
In their report, however, the researchers who focused on the Cave Python note that much of what we think we know about zoonotic spread is still largely theoretical – documenting complex interactions between multiple species in known zoonotic reservoirs “remains extremely rare.”
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