The next deadly virus that spreads around the world could easily come from a bat that roosts in or around the caves being explored by Thiago Bernardi Vieira.
Driven by conditions including deforestation and other incursions by humans on bat habitats, these Brazilian jump zones have grown by more than 40% in extent over the past two decades – over 2.5 times faster than similarly risky areas worldwide, Reuters found. Almost three-quarters of Brazil's jump zones lie within the Amazon, a tangle of biodiversity that holds more secrets than scientists can ever hope to discover, especially with swaths of the rainforest quickly succumbing to development.