Hunting the Marburg Virus

The Marburg virus was identified in 1967 after lab workers, and then some of their family members became ill. The workers had been conducting research involving African green monkeys, but the viral reservoir turned out to be the African fruit bat.

The virus incubates in its host for five to ten days, and the infected person then has symptoms including chills, fever, headache and muscle pain. A few days after that, illness becomes much worse, and the hemorrhagic fever begins to take a toll. Fatality rates during outbreaks have ranged from 23 to 90 percent.

This video from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells the story of researchers that are using GPS tracking to learn more about the fruit bats that carry the virus.

Source: CDC