‘Beware of the bat’: how a mine in Kigali became the focus of Marburg virus research
The fatality rate for the disease is usually 88%, but during a recent outbreak in Rwanda, deaths were kept to 23%. A new approach based on studying miners may be the reason whyIn a tin mine in a Kigali suburb, just 20 minutes’ drive from the heart of the Rwandan capital, the sounds of chittering and fluttering come from behind a padlocked door. It bears a sign: “Beware of the bat.”The 10,000-strong bat colony in this tunnel harbours a deadly virus, and last year workers carried it out along with the rocks they mined. Continue reading...
The fatality rate for the disease is usually 88%, but during a recent outbreak in Rwanda, deaths were kept to 23%. A new approach based on studying miners may be the reason why
In a tin mine in a Kigali suburb, just 20 minutes’ drive from the heart of the Rwandan capital, the sounds of chittering and fluttering come from behind a padlocked door. It bears a sign: “Beware of the bat.”
The 10,000-strong bat colony in this tunnel harbours a deadly virus, and last year workers carried it out along with the rocks they mined. Continue reading...
