Interactive Case Study for Virus Hunter: Monitoring Nipah Virus in Bat Populations: Interactive Video Builder: HHMI BioInteractive

Explore: Access a library of ready-to-use interactive videos created by BioInteractive.
Create: Create your own interactive video by adding labels, text boxes, and questions (multiple-choice, true/false, and free-text) to a BioInteractive video of your choice. You will need a BioInteractive account to use this feature.

This video follows scientists working in Bangladesh as they test fruit bat populations to determine whether they are infected with Nipah virus, a potentially deadly human pathogen.

Fruit bats (also called flying foxes) of the genus Pteropus carry a virus called Nipah, which can be transmitted to humans and cause severe disease. In Bangladesh, the virus causes a disease outbreak almost every year. Disease ecologist Jon Epstein of the EcoHealth Alliance explains how scientists discovered that bats are the natural reservoir of the virus, and how the virus is transmitted from bats to humans. Epstein and his collaborators are now monitoring the presence of the virus in bat populations throughout Bangladesh to identify human populations that might be at risk of transmission.

An audio descriptive version of the film is available via our media player.

Please note that embedded interactions will not appear in the descriptive audio version.

Topics:: Explanations & Argumentation

Pathogens & Disease

Viruses
Grade Levels:: College

High School — AP/IB

High School — General

This video follows scientists working in Bangladesh as they test fruit bat populations to determine whether they are infected with Nipah virus, a potentially deadly human pathogen.