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‘Bat feast’ animal videos at African cave offer clues to how deadly viruses spread

www.nature.com·Chen, Edward·about 1 month ago
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Researchers caught an African leopard on camera eating bats from a cave in Uganda. It might be the first confirmation that leopards eat live bats. Credit: Bosco Atukwatse/VSPT Kyambura Lion Project When researchers in Uganda set up camera traps to monitor African leopards ( Panthera pardus pardus ) and spotted hyenas ( Crocuta crocuta ) in a national park last year, they had no idea that they would record so much more than just those animals. Several of the traps, placed outside a cave known to host Egyptian fruit bats ( Rousettus aegyptiacus ), caught on video a multitude of creatures feasting on the winged mammals. The bats are known carriers of Marburg virus, which can transfer into humans and cause a fatal haemorrhagic fever, so the footage offers real-time insight into how disease can spread. Scientists know that bats can transmit viruses to humans either directly, or through an intermediate animal , from forensic detective work and other studies.…

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