Overview
- Footage from February to June last year shows at least 14 vertebrate species, including leopards, several primates, birds of prey and monitor lizards, feeding on Egyptian fruit bats at Python Cave in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
- The site hosts an estimated 56,000 Egyptian fruit bats, a known Marburg reservoir, and researchers describe a dynamic, multispecies exposure network they call a potential spillover crucible.
- Investigators emphasize that no spillover to other animals or people was detected during the period recorded on camera.
- Cameras also documented school groups, tourists and local trainees visiting the cave without protective equipment, while some predator species observed are consumed as bushmeat, highlighting plausible human exposure routes.
- A leopard repeatedly returned to the cave and was nicknamed Akahaya by the team, which now plans targeted surveillance to map these interfaces and test for infection.