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An infection with Nipah virus can quickly turn deadly. It’s carried by fruit bats able to travel long distances. This time around we look at how organisms spread through migration, and how climate change affects this.
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AnimalsTranscript
00:06Migration is an aspect of survival.
00:09Every year, millions of animals set out for better feeding grounds or to reproduce.
00:14And not just animals migrate.
00:17Plants spread too, so slower, through seeds carried on the wind or transported by animals and humans.
00:26Pathogens can come along for the ride, including the highly dangerous Nipah virus, which broke out in India in early
00:332026.
00:37Species on the move, this time around on DW's Science Show.
00:42Welcome to Tomorrow Today.
00:46The University of Marburg is home to one of Germany's four high-security laboratories,
00:52facilities where research is conducted on dangerous live pathogens such as Nipah virus.
00:59Alexandra Kupke has studied it for the past 12 years and monitors new outbreaks like a recent one in India.
01:07Nipah is one of the most dangerous viruses out there.
01:11We estimate its case fatality rate at roughly 40 to 70 percent.
01:16The laboratory is sealed off from the outside world.
01:21Working with the stored samples collected in Asia means adhering to the highest safety standards.
01:30We've known about the Nipah virus for quite some time.
01:33The first outbreak happened in 1998 and 1999 in Malaysia and Singapore.
01:40Back then, the virus was transmitted to humans from pigs.
01:45Since then, outbreaks have occurred repeatedly, no longer in Malaysia and Singapore, but in India and Bangladesh.
01:55After the outbreak, several neighboring countries introduced fever screening for travelers arriving from India.
02:02Most understood the measure.
02:04Of course, we are all afraid of all the viruses, especially after Corona.
02:08Everything is going to change and we lost so much people.
02:11On social media, panic began to spread.
02:17There is no cure.
02:19Treatment consists exclusively of symptomatic therapy.
02:24Images from unsubstantiated sources left the impression that the next pandemic had already begun,
02:31even though no deaths have been attributed to the Indian outbreak.
02:36At this point, there's no reason to assume that we're directly facing the next pandemic or that we need to
02:43activate emergency response plans.
02:46Although Nipah virus has now become a research focus at Marburg's Institute of Virology,
02:53scientists there want to understand exactly how the virus affects the human body.
02:58For example, how it breaches the blood-brain barrier.
03:02The Nipah virus is one of the mixoviruses.
03:06In humans, it typically causes severe respiratory illness as well as neurological symptoms.
03:12This can progress to serious inflammation of the brain.
03:17Nipah is what's called a zoonosis.
03:21One animal host identified in the wild is the Asian fruit bat.
03:25It sheds Nipah virus through excrement and saliva.
03:29Some infections in humans have been linked to unboiled date palm juice.
03:34Direct person-to-person transmission is also possible.
03:40This is, of course, a risk.
03:42But it's important to mention that Nipah virus is only transmissible through very close contact.
03:48Catching it requires contact with saliva or a large volume of droplets.
03:53Nipah is not airborne.
03:56The search for a vaccine is already underway, focused on methods like so-called vector vaccines,
04:03where Nipah antigens are delivered into human cells via harmless viruses, causing the immune system to produce antibodies against the
04:11dangerous pathogen as well.
04:15During the coronavirus pandemic, we saw that you can never rely on just one vaccine.
04:21You need a broad approach.
04:23And vaccine research should be developed very widely, at least up to clinical phase one, so that you're truly prepared
04:31in an emergency.
04:35India's neighbors remain cautious.
04:38The 1998 outbreak in Malaysia killed over 100 people.
04:45We distinguish between two different strains.
04:49First, there's Nipah Malaysia, which caused the first outbreak.
04:53The strain currently circulating is known as Nipah Bangladesh.
04:57Of course, there are mutations in its genome.
05:01Now a strain referred to as Nipah India has also been identified.
05:06It differs slightly from the Bangladesh strain.
05:09But these are relatively small mutations.
05:13In the current outbreak, there are no indications that the virus has mutated in ways that would make it spread
05:20faster or pose a greater danger.
05:23It's not clear whether human-to-human transmission caused the cases in India.
05:29The initial source of infection has yet to be identified.
05:32But the search for a vaccine remains a priority.
05:39Great white sharks can go on migration stretching over 2,000 kilometers in length, usually returning to the waters where
05:47they began the journey.
05:48But what if they simply disappear?
05:52That's what they did off the coast of Cape Town in South Africa.
05:56Once common there, they have vanished.
05:58And no one really knows what happened to them.
06:02Great whites are usually solitary animals.
06:04And at an average length of 4.5 meters, they're the largest predator fish on the planet.
06:14These divers off the coast of South Africa have one wish, to spot the legendary great white shark.
06:22It once lived in these waters.
06:24They used to be more common here than anywhere else in the world.
06:30I think sharks are really cool.
06:32I like to, I'm like a water person.
06:35I like to be in the ocean.
06:36And it's just fun.
06:37The problem is, the legendary monsters have disappeared from the coastal waters around Cape Town.
06:44These are so-called copper sharks.
06:47They too occasionally attack humans, but they're nowhere near as dangerous as great whites.
06:54The shark divers who come here to see the animals are disappointed.
06:59Once again, not even a glimpse of one.
07:02Although it is sad, we couldn't get to see the great white today.
07:05Because that was one of the reasons why I pursued the Korean marine biology,
07:08was just to understand these great white sharks.
07:12That doesn't stop them from trying yet again.
07:16And the bait does lure some predators.
07:21We have a shark species called a bronze whaler shark.
07:24Or copper sharks, another name for them.
07:27They grow up to about 3 meters in length.
07:28But the average size we have around is about 2.5 to 2.2 meters.
07:33Copper sharks are considered vulnerable, but not currently threatened with extinction.
07:39And although they also attack humans sometimes,
07:42they're viewed as less dangerous than great white sharks.
07:50Toby Rogers is also mostly on the lookout for this most famous of shark species.
07:55Over the years, he's tagged more than 200 individual animals.
08:01If it detected even one of them, this device would sound an alarm.
08:05But today, it emits only static.
08:09Even so, nets are still deployed in the seaside town of Fishhook
08:13to protect swimmers from marine predators.
08:16Officials point out that there have been no shark attacks for years,
08:20but say they still can't be ruled out.
08:22Five years ago, mostly, we saw great whites.
08:25It's only now, maybe I think for the two years,
08:28we didn't see at all great whites.
08:30We did go out on our research boats,
08:32go check of anything, we just get bronzes.
08:35False Bay was so named because for centuries,
08:38sailing ships mistakenly entered it,
08:40believing it to be a bay farther to the north.
08:43Shark monitoring goes on here, too.
08:46Mountain watch for beach watch.
08:48Go ahead, stay.
08:50Can you tell me how many bathes in the water?
08:54We've got about five bathes, copy.
08:56Okay, and how many surfers?
09:00We've got about 35 surfers in the water.
09:04Okay, you got any sightings?
09:08We have no sightings at the moment, copy.
09:11Okay, copy there, thank you.
09:1425.
09:15All right.
09:16When the sea is rough,
09:18the marine predators can't be spotted.
09:21From up here, Dennis Ciccose observes the water.
09:24In calmer surf, the sharks can be clearly identified.
09:28They swim just below the surface and are always there.
09:32Most people, they think if you have to first spot a shark,
09:35you need to see the fin first.
09:36But remember, they are hunters.
09:38They are hunting.
09:39When you're hunting, you don't show yourself out that I'm here.
09:42So they are normally under the water.
09:45So we look for shadows and movement.
09:48South Africa, 2015.
09:53During a sports broadcast, Australian surfer Mick Fanning was attacked by a great white shark.
10:05A siren sounded the warning signal.
10:10Fanning escaped unharmed.
10:14Not long ago, some experts proposed installing lights on the undersides of surfboards to confuse sharks and stop potential attacks.
10:23I can imagine the lights kind of distracting the sharks maybe, perhaps.
10:27But not so much the shape.
10:29Because it's the shape that seems like a seal from the top.
10:33So that's what they see.
10:34That's why the attack happened.
10:36The non-profit Shark Spotters seeks not just to protect people, but the animals as well.
10:42Sarah Worre says Cape Town's great whites have moved elsewhere.
10:46Recent research that we've been part of suggests that rather than a reduction in population,
10:52there's just been an eastward shift along the South African coastline.
10:55And so since 2017, we've seen quite a dramatic reduction in white shark activity in False Bay
11:02and also just further along the coast in Khansbay.
11:05Killer whales could be the reason why.
11:09Hunting in groups, they attack the sharks, aiming for their livers, which are rich in fat and oil.
11:14This great white was killed by orcas quickly and efficiently.
11:20The two killer whales in question are the ones called Port and Starwood.
11:23And we think that these two individuals started hunting them back then.
11:27And what that has led to is an immediate abandonment of the white sharks from those certain areas.
11:33So areas like False Bay, Khansbay, and most recently Mussel Bay.
11:38The great white shark is considered an endangered species.
11:42Its numbers are threatened not just by killer whales, but also overfishing by humans.
11:48But just maybe one day they'll return to False Bay.
11:53In the seaside town of Fishhook, the mesh in the shark nets is now so fine
11:58that the marine predators can no longer become entangled.
12:02The nets still go up, though, because better safe than sorry.
12:09By the way, great white sharks probably don't take this route from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean.
12:17The water in the Suez Canal is simply too hot and salty.
12:21But the venomous lionfish has no problem with those extreme conditions.
12:25In reefs in the warming waters of the Mediterranean, it's starting to displace native species.
12:32In Greece, an effort is underway to do something about the invader by turning it into dinner.
12:39The fishermen of Chilada take to the sea from their small harbor village on the Peloponnese Peninsula in Greece.
12:46Their usual catch includes sea bream and octopus.
12:50But more and more often, their nets are bringing up animals that don't belong here,
12:55what are known as invasive species, like the red lionfish, originally from Asia.
13:01With sea temperatures rising, it's migrated through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
13:07It has venomous spines, very few natural predators, spreads rapidly and poses a serious threat to local species.
13:18These fish are a big problem, especially because they eat the eggs of other fish.
13:25And we're also afraid to touch them.
13:30According to a global climate report published by the World Meteorological Organization,
13:36the lionfish threat is a consequence of too much energy being pumped into the system.
13:41One of its authors is oceanographer Karina von Schuchman.
13:44The key finding?
13:47That climate change is continuing and intensifying.
13:52There are even signs that warming oceans and rising sea levels are accelerating.
13:58Ice loss, for example, is at record levels.
14:05The report says the amount of heat stored in the oceans has reached a new high.
14:11Due to the greenhouse effect, the Earth absorbs more of the sun's energy than it releases back into space.
14:17Oceans take up 91% of that energy, 5% is absorbed by land, 3% melts ice, and 1
14:25% contributes to atmospheric warming.
14:28And that poses a threat.
14:30Tropical cyclones like one that hit Mozambique are growing more intense.
14:35Warmer water is fueling such storms.
14:37Today's report should come with a warning level.
14:41Climate chaos is accelerating and delay is deadly.
14:45The way ahead must be grounded in science, common sense and the courage to act.
14:51In Greece, a chef is already trying to help.
14:55Elias Chiazoli has declared war on the lionfish by turning it into a delicacy.
15:00The meat is safe to eat because the poison is confined to the spines.
15:06I believe I'm definitely helping nature by putting lionfish on the menu.
15:11And I'm helping myself too because people love it and it tastes fantastic.
15:16We really need to eat lionfish because it has hardly any other predators.
15:21So everyone's a winner, including our stomachs.
15:26Efforts like that should help drive down numbers of lionfish on the Greek coast.
15:31But as long as sea temperatures continue to rise, invasive species will continue to spread.
15:41Now onto an invasive plant found practically everywhere, water hyacinths.
15:47They can completely cover lakes in the tropics, forming dense floating carpets.
15:52The plant is a textbook example of a species introduced by humans that spirals out of control in new biospheres,
16:01spreading rapidly because it has no natural enemies.
16:04Indigenous to South America, water hyacinths have become a serious plague worldwide over the past 150 years.
16:13In India, a scientist is trying to do something about them.
16:18This is the story of ecologist Sushmita Krishnan, who turns water hyacinths into biodegradable paper.
16:25It's a win-win because although attractive, water hyacinths are extremely fast-growing and highly invasive.
16:32Originally introduced to India from South America, they quickly clogged lakes and wetlands, damaging existing ecosystems.
16:40A pond in the village of Allur in Tamil Nadu.
16:44Farmer Muthu used to rely on the water source to irrigate his fields.
16:48But now it's been completely overtaken by water hyacinths.
16:55Back when I was in school, this water was very clean.
16:58We used to catch fish here.
17:01This area was once farmland and people would bathe in the pond.
17:04But now the water is black and polluted.
17:12Water hyacinths infestations can cause oxygen depletion in water bodies, increase water loss, and create breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
17:21Even when dead, water hyacinths release harmful substances that reduce water quality.
17:29The International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified water hyacinths as the world's first aquatic invasive species.
17:36A single plant can produce 2,000 seeds.
17:40Under favorable conditions, up to 700 tons of water hyacinths can grow per hectare of land.
17:46If this continues unchecked, oxygen levels in the water body drop significantly, killing fish populations.
17:53This results in economic and ecological losses.
18:02The 24-year-old ecologist works with the National College in Tiruchilapalli in the south of Tamil Nadu to tackle
18:08this problem.
18:13First, we remove the water hyacinths from the water, then we chop, grind and extract pulp from it.
18:23After that, we add natural binders to the pulp.
18:27We use paper frames for this process.
18:33The frame is dipped in the pulp, transferred onto a cloth and left to dry.
18:40This process is quite simple.
18:43The paper is fully biodegradable and contains no chemicals.
18:47It's entirely plant-based.
18:52Sushpita says that 1 kg of water hyacinth can produce 35 A4 sheets of paper.
19:00Students at the National College learn how to do it step by step.
19:09Sushpita's technology can be shared with self-help groups.
19:12They can be taught how to collect water hyacinth even if they only have limited resources.
19:20They can also learn how to process it and turn it into different grades of material.
19:30Students can acquire this knowledge and then pass it on to villages or communities, helping them generate income.
19:40Sushpita hopes that all of India's water bodies will one day be healthy again.
19:43And with her idea, she helps to transform a harmful invasive species into a useful resource.
19:54On rice farms in Asia, water buffalo are indispensable work animals.
20:00In Europe, they've been deliberately introduced for a specific purpose, landscape management.
20:06In marshy areas, they help promote biodiversity by creating access roots in overgrown wetlands and feeding on water plants like
20:15reeds.
20:16That makes them especially interesting for managing re-wetted peatlands.
20:27Christian Meyer and his wife Regina Schmidt want to work on some fencing surrounding their pastures today.
20:35First step, locate the herd.
20:38The animals can't have the chance to stray while the posts are being swapped out.
20:50Around 30 years ago, the first peatlands re-wetting projects kicked off here in the region.
20:58Meyer and Schmidt had to think about alternative ways to farm their land.
21:02They came up with something quite special, water buffalo.
21:11Long ago, crops were planted on these fields.
21:14Then they grew too wet and were turned into pasture land.
21:17Since the re-wetting, with the ground extremely damp, we really can't put normal cattle on them anymore
21:23because they develop serious problems with their hooves.
21:27But the water buffalo love it.
21:29They need these wet areas.
21:30That's where they feel at home.
21:35In addition to the water buffalo, the couple also keeps a few Dexter cattle.
21:41Because they're smaller and lighter than other breeds, they cope better with wet ground.
21:49There are a few Exmoor ponies as well.
21:52They also have no problem grazing on wet pastures.
21:56On the marshy ground, the mix of different types of livestock also benefits nature.
22:05One reason to graze different kinds of animals is that they have different feeding behaviors.
22:12Cattle graze by tearing, horses by biting.
22:15This creates different soil structures through different growth patterns of grasses and other plants.
22:21And that increases biodiversity.
22:25Mayer's grazing program is being monitored by scientists from the nearby Peatland Science Center.
22:32Their most important collaborators, the water buffalo.
22:38Some are equipped with GPS trackers so we can track their movement patterns,
22:42and also see whether the buffalo have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
22:48The researchers have also erected a so-called eddy covariance flux tower on the re-wetted peatland.
22:55Its sensors measure weather data like temperature and wind speed,
23:00but also levels of CO2, methane and nitrous oxide.
23:04What we're seeing here is greenhouse gas flux in real time.
23:0910 hertz, that means 10 measurements per second.
23:12This is the methane flux.
23:15For over three years, this data has, for the first time,
23:19allowed the scientists to assess the climate effects of grazing water buffalo on wet grassland.
23:26The initial finding?
23:29Over the course of a year, wet grassland management with water buffalo has around 75 percent lower emissions
23:36compared to, for example, conventional arable farming or intensive grassland management.
23:44The water buffalo pasture is still a source of greenhouse gases,
23:49but it represents a positive contribution to climate protection.
23:55The fence that borders the water buffalo pasture has been repaired.
23:59At first, Christian Mayo was skeptical about the whole idea.
24:04How would he manage newly re-wetted land?
24:07What would he need to watch out for with the water buffalo?
24:10And would there even be a market for their meat in the region?
24:13All existential questions.
24:19The water buffalo live and graze outside all year round.
24:23Our animals are basically born on this meadow and die on it.
24:27And that's the best thing for the animal and for meat quality.
24:30You can't produce higher quality meat than that.
24:35Managing re-wetted peatlands was not an easy step for him.
24:41It was strange back then.
24:43We started the project with just three animals and four hectares,
24:46to see whether it would even be profitable.
24:51Now the water buffalo have become an important source of income for the family.
24:58About 10 to 15 animals are passed on to other farmers who also manage wet pastures for breeding purposes.
25:05And 8 to 10 animals go into our farm shop for direct marketing.
25:10On Christian Meyer and Regina Schmidt's farm, 58 water buffalo now live on 73 hectares of re-wetted pasture land.
25:25What are stars made of?
25:27How many colors can butterflies see?
25:30Could robots have babies one day?
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25:43So, just ask.
25:49Time to wrap things up.
25:51Thanks for watching and see you again next time on Tomorrow Today.
25:56Bye for now.
26:05Bye.
26:07Bye.
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