‘Ebola-like virus’ outbreak fears after horrifying footage captures animal feeding on bats
Researchers in Uganda have captured on camera a complex network of animals feeding on bats infected with Marburg virus, showing the potential for spillover for the first time
The footage shows animals queuing up to eat the bats(Image: Alexander Braczkowski)
Scientists in Uganda have uncovered an intricate web of creatures preying on bats carrying Marburg virus, recording shocking footage which has revealed a risk the disease could spread.
The findings were captured using camera traps positioned outside “Python Cave” in Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda, marking proof “of a dynamic, multispecies exposure network at a known Marburg virus site,” according to the research team.
In a report of their discoveries, the team noted finding so many creatures hunting the bats “may represent a Rosetta Stone for interpreting the real-time mechanics of zoonotic spillover”. Marburg virus disease is a severe, often fatal viral hemorrhagic fever with up to 88% fatality rates, caused by a filovirus closely related to Ebola.
During a five-month study spanning February to June last year, scientists documented no fewer than 14 different vertebrate species visiting the cave to prey on the bats, including leopards, various primate species, birds of prey and monitor lizards.
One remarkable clip shows an adult leopard approaching the cave mouth, striking at bats as they emerge in vast swarms before departing with one clenched in its jaws.
Additional footage from the Maramagambo Forest location captured a group of monkeys hunting the bats, alongside civet cats and genets, another small carnivorous mammal. The cave is a dwelling for an estimated 56,000 Egyptian fruit bats and is located in a region that has been crucial to the study of Marburg, a virus closely related to Ebola.
The virus can have a fatality rate as high as 90% and, whilst several vaccines are under development, none have yet received approval.
In 2008, a Dutch tourist who visited Python Cave contracted and died from Marburg. An American tourist also became ill with the disease after visiting the cave but survived.
And in 2009, scientists from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) isolated the Marburg virus for the first time from fruit bats found in a nearby cave.
The camera traps were initially installed at the cave as part of a project to collect data on lions and hyenas residing in the Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Orin Cornille, a field coordinator at the Kyambura Lion Project, expressed surprise at capturing so many different species feasting on the bats, about seven per cent of which are known to carry Marburg.
“What surprised me is we were seeing blue monkeys, baboons, vervet monkeys, going in there and snatching bats. From a virological standpoint, I think that’s the crazy part.
“The leopard is really cool, and all the genet cats and the civets – and all the different avian species are really cool to watch. But I think from a virus point of view, it’s probably the monkeys which are the scariest thing.”
The researchers were eager to emphasise that they had seen no evidence of actual spillover.
“This could be something that’s been occurring for thousands of years – the Rift Valley and the Albertine Rift, these are prehistoric formations,” explained Alexander Braczkowski, scientific director at Kyambura Lion Project.
“We are witnessing numerous identical species, and, indeed, some of the very same individuals visiting this cave and hunting, you know, for months and months and months on end.”
One specific leopard which returned to the cave repeatedly throughout the five-month study was filmed devouring countless bats. It received the moniker Akahaya, a term in a local dialect meaning untouchable. The scientists hope their discoveries can serve as a foundation for additional research into spillover dangers.
“For one of the first times in nature, there’s essentially a site where you have the ability to repeatedly see animal interactions between the filovirus reservoir and then these predators, clearly mixing body fluids – eating each other,” said Braczkowski.
“We’re going to be working with some collaborators in future to potentially try and map out more of this whole interface, and figure out if animals are getting infected,” he said.
Bosco Atukwatse, another field coordinator at the Kyambura Lion Project, initially conceived the idea to position cameras near the cave.
