People keep trespassing near cave filled with bats infected by Ebola’s cousin
Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. You do not want to contract Marburg virus disease (MVD). Formerly known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, it belongs to the same family as Ebola and displays many of the same fatal symptoms including massive internal bleeding and organ failure. Luckily, epidemiologists have long worked to identify and monitor locations designated as known Marburg virus reservoirs.These include places like Python Cave inside Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park. But according to a startling report published in the journal Current Biology this week, visitors to the scenic ecological reserve have routinely ignored clear warnings to stay far away from the caverns. After almost 9,000 hours of recorded activity, authors tallied over 200 human incursions into Python Cave, including international tourists and school children. While no reported cases were tied to these instances, the study’s authors warn that future contact could put visitors (and untold others) at risk of contracting the nightmarish virus. Cases of Marburg virus disease are thankfully rare, but they …


