The next epidemic? Hunting viruses in the rainforest

Whilst a new Ebola outbreak in the Congo is currently causing alarm around the world, this NZZ Format documentary presents the key solution: how can we prevent the next epidemic at its source? Deadly zoonotic diseases such as mpox, Ebola and the Marburg virus repeatedly jump from animals to humans in the rainforests of Central Africa. We accompany virus hunters on their mission in the jungle to track down dangerous pathogens and stop outbreaks before they become a global threat.

Frédéric Singa is a veterinary surgeon at the Dzanga Sangha Nature Reserve in the Central African Republic. He catches bats, takes samples from gorillas and visits patients – to understand which pathogens are circulating in the forest. But the samples are far from sufficient. Singa also wants to regularly examine bushmeat at local markets. Will he succeed in winning over the sceptical hunters and market women?

The samples Singa collects end up in a field laboratory in the rainforest and are also sent to Greifswald in Germany for further analysis, where Professor Fabian Leendertz at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health maps global risk hotspots. The link between the Central African rainforest and the health of people in Europe is more direct than most realise.

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