From Ebola to swine flu to HIV/Aids, viruses borne by animals have caused some of the most devastating epidemics in history. What will come next? In Sierra Leone, joins the scientists working to find Disease X – a virus that is as yet undiscovered, but which could have the potential to ravage populations. Photographs by
The caves surrounding the village of Gbentu in northern Sierra Leone are held sacred in local culture. Kings have been laid to rest here, and tributes stowed deep within the crevasses. For centuries, in times of death or crisis, tribal elders have tramped through the jungle to hold secret rituals in the darkness.
Tonight, however, it is a dozen or so Sierra Leonean scientists in blue scrubs and gumboots who trudge through the gloom. As we approach, a chorus of nervous-sounding coughs echoes down the line. The head of the village, known as the paramount chief, has instructed us to clear our throats when we arrive at the caves to activate a spell he has conjured to help protect us against the poisonous snakes that reside here.
Ebola: The Natural and…
Best Price: $1.67
Buy New $8.97
(as of 10:05 EDT – Details)
As their assistants (recruits from the village) use machetes to hack a clearing, the scientists put on the ghostly white full personal-protection suits that strike fear into the hearts of so many in this disease-ravaged part of west Africa, which between 2014 and 2016 suffered the worst Ebola outbreak in history – resulting in 11,325 deaths. Mist nets – mesh used to capture bats and birds – are unfurled across the various mouths of the caves. And then, we wait: loitering among belching frogs and whining mosquitoes as the jungle canopy is swallowed into…