The Next Pandemic Could Be Dripping On Your Head
"Welcome to the bat cave. No, we're not talking about the secret headquarters of a
superhero."
"This is Gomantong — an ancient cave carved out of 20 million-year-old limestone in the middle of the Borneo rain forest in Malaysia. It's part of a vast network of tunnels and caverns. And it's the perfect hideout for bats."
"Up at the top are millions of bats. Literally millions. They hang upside down all day long from the cave's ceiling, sleeping and pooping."Oh dear! We've been dripped on," says Mike Lindley-Jones, a doctor from Australia, as some liquid falls on his head. "Is this bat urine?"
"'No, it's just water,' says Jimmy Lee, an officer with the Sabah Wildlife Department, who is guiding us through the cave, along a wooden boardwalk."
"Then Lindley-Jones suddenly grabs the handrail covered in guano."
"'Don't touch your face!' Lee warns, because inside that bat excrement could be something potentially dangerous."