Is This Deadly Cave In Kenya A Home To The Next Epidemic?

Kitum Caves, located in Mount Elgon, National Park in Kenya, is believed to be the world’s deadliest cave. As per recent reports, scientists worry that this particular cave could be the root cause of the next pandemic as it is home to some of the deadliest viruses in human history. Experts have reportedly found that Ebola and Marburg virus originated from here. Now, scientists worry that Marburg can cause a pandemic with the World Health Organisation (WHO) flagging it as “epidemic-prone”.

In the 1980s, a French engineer, who was working at a nearby sugar mill investigated this deadly cave and unfortunately came into contact with the body-melting Marburg virus. As per reports, his face almost “detached itself from the skull” and was hanging on the underlying bone as the connective tissue dissolved and soon he died. Years later, the virus claimed a young Danish boy who was on vacation with his family and succumbed to the virus called Ravn.

Reports reveal that the salty mineral deposits in the cave have drawn many elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, leopards and hyenas from Western Kenya. Researchers believe that this made Kitum Caves a breeding ground for zoonotic infections. Furthermore, the 600-foot-deep cave had been continuously dug and expanded by elephants, ending up being home to disease-carrying bats.

Following the events of the 1980s, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) launched an expedition into the Kitum Cave and sent experts inside wearing pressurised and filtered suits. However, they failed to identify the virus.

More than a decade later, Marburg RNA was found in Fruit Bats – common throughout Central Africa. A Fruit Bat was extracted from a cave in July 2007 and later, was found in other caves across the continent. This virus can spread from one person to another by coming in contact with an infected person’s body fluids. It can also be transmitted to other people by touching their personal belongings like handkerchiefs, towels or anything that the infected might have touched. As reported by WION, the Marburg virus is being assumed to be deadly, with up to 88 per cent of people dying from it.