5 adventures. one goal. the preservation of our planet. it's not just an issue of heart and trees and saving pandas anymore . it's us that's in danger of survival or not or i struggle to realize that there's a radically different way of living things from brother. for china starts november 6th on g.w. . on the hunt for deadly viruses. to. kill us with a baton to us that. there and is to prevent the next catastrophe. that's scary a lot of viruses that could trigger pandemics. pandemics of which we humans

are the cause. because of our destruction of the environment humans are moving ever closer to a wild animals. can cut down half the rain forest and they'll still be enough left over. people who are campaigning to protect the rain forest. and for biodiversity. are helping to prevent new can dennis. cut. to destroy how can we humans destroy a living forest hundreds of years old with a chain saw a hell of a. time we're in the brazilian amazon region with a group of 5. our

1st trip takes us deep into the hinterland of sol paolo's day. it's the region of sugarcane plantations trucks passes by carrying this week harvest. in the dusk we spot a ring tailed coati. we are out with biologist cristiana car viola and his team in the few remaining strips of the atlantic rain forest he's looking for the hiding places of bats he thinks he has located some in these water pipes where he heard the sound of wings flapping inside. indeed there is a colony of bats dozens of them are living here in the cracks and crevices of the pipes. for us and one that i'm specialized in seeking out the hideaways of a bat seen regions like this close to agricultural land that's all mostly i find them in trees or like here in water pipes and. about

experts work begins shortly before dusk he spends a net over the entrance and the vast hunt is on. a problem with you but. one other than that i see my this is this is what we're working with these animals to find out how far the various viruses have spread. i just think it's part of our scientific work to find out which bats are carrying which viruses think on the rear of their own just the fear of a life now in the times of coronavirus everyone needs to wear protective clothing to prevent a transmission of the virus chiroptera the scientific name for bats have been christiane knows passion for 26 years. he wants to lure them from the back of the pipe into the net.

it's amazing how quickly he succeeds. christiane no has to painstakingly untangle the animal from the net for him it's a routine procedure after his many batons level no wonder that. he hands over the bats he has caught 2 by rolla just angelica compost who neatly hangs them up in fabric sacks oh i love it that one of those movies it's only since this year that people. worldwide has been noticing that bats carrying numerous viruses which can be transmitted to humans and trigger pandemics. you will think the out because i couldn't believe me and that's why researchers are now looking more closely and precisely to find out which is are being carried in each

individual animal. the bats are not afraid to bite so they wear thick gloves. anjelica take samples out of the throats and digestive tracts of the bats places where the corona virus likes to settle for the top we've been expecting a coronavirus pandemic for years but hoping that we would be wrong then we thought that the law. may keep finding new previously unknown viruses in the feces of the bats. but everyone just without a work we want to prevent another pandemic from breaking out you know that we're hunting phonied dangerous types of viruses or trying at least to limit them. if it's a radical. cording to estimates there are more than 300000 unknown pathogens in the world's jungles mostly hidden in the bodies of mammals such as bats or

rodents as more as the rainforest stays intact the viruses and bacteria pose no threat to humans when humans and their livestock get too close to wild animals the viruses can be transmitted to cattle pigs or humans and become deadly the virus hunters want to find out which pathogens are a threat to humans. the bats samples have to be kept for ozone at minus 80 degrees celsius on their way to the laboratory to keep the virus code intact. because this is the bottom of the market for our work it's important to get as many samples from the bats as possible that you might also we can identify the many types of virus circulating in the population much you use that. that's are more interesting for researchers than other mammals as they carry an unusually high number of viruses. well to fulfill we can't think of bats as

a kind of virus storage not the pathogens stay in their bodies far away from us humans can demick surprise when humans encroach on the natural territory of the bats and upset the balance of nature where the viruses exist they will feed the researchers show us what they mean on their way to the south palo laboratory with their freezer box. due to the sugarcane monoculture here the hanta virus has spread rapidly it's transmitted by rat droppings the hantavirus is not dangerous for the rodents but for humans every 2nd case of infection leads to death according to researchers the hanta virus started spreading rapidly after the jungle was cleared for the monoculture. in the 1970 s. brazil began building roads through the impenetrable amazon rain forest with their

trans amazonian highway the military dictatorship laid the foundation for the massive deforestation we see today. agriculture has bestowed prosperity upon many regions at the cost of the rain forest more and more railway lines on highways cut through the amazon region. every year fires ravage more swaths of rain forest they are usually started by farmers wanting to increase the size of their fields. we are on the trans amazonian highway on our way to an indigenous reserve we see traces of slash and burn farming on all sides now in the dry season smoke lingers over vast stretches of the countryside. president goes a narrow 160 percent of the votes in this region of the brazilian state of caught up in his election campaign he promised to free up the reserves of the indigenous.

peoples for deforestation and to support the many local cattle breeders. when we reach the reserve we see an illegal settlement. the collection of huts is called a villa arena say they're the place of rebirth. it looks like a piece out of the wild west and indeed it is. built around a sarah stands on a piece of indigenous land protected by the constitution this fact was confirmed by civil servants who also told us that they are powerless against the illegal squatters are not allowed to give interviews but one person agrees to speak to us. as they cook from an entirely different region who moved to a villa in a say or a year ago our restaurant well this place is growing ok are there many workers here

they want to buy land that yes many brazilians come from far away and stake out a piece of land to work. there i think that i think it must be worthwhile and that anton atta and her husband barito are frustrated neither of them has ever learned to read or write and they don't understand why the state sees them as illegal squatters. you know if they only feed me we have no nurse here who could take care of us. she's not allowed to come here because our settlement is illegal. the politicians come here to get our votes but so far no one has helped us to get a legal title as landowners of that good work of you'd never know they have the. barito shows us his building site next door where a new larger restaurant is planned they have just laid the foundation for the floor tiles. and on now to is hoping for good business in spite of

everything in spite of the authorities say this is indigenous territory but the old people say there have never been any indigenous people here still the state won't give us this land. are they right. i'm not sure. that's it. we hope that we can soon be the legal owners of this land then we can work here with a clear conscience. with a patient you don't see yourselves as illegal we persevere said fear make the. buildings are going up everywhere the craft workers are just putting up walls for an evangelical free church it is the 6th in the settlement. in just 2 years the settlement has grown to around 2000 people. for years the squatter spokesman has been fighting for legalisation in court in his

view the indigenous reserve is too big he demands that it be reduced in size. did it when i look up for you the indigenous people have traditionally never lived on this land. what is too much and that's why we demand that the reports justifying the reserve should be checked again why don't we just want everything to be done truthfully don't begin to advantage by. the squatters' moyer's have managed to get the status of the reserved reevaluation. think. you have to understand that the people living here in the amazon want to survive that has to be possible on a slant thought of you. this is also how to seize it he runs the corner shop until around a say are hoping the size of the reserve will be cut. over the gaza if they legalize our place then everything will be fine. there's so much wealth in

this earth. wrong materials which ones a lot of gold and more. were hanging in there to see what happens. shortly afterward leonardo i.r.s. arrives he lives near the gold mines and complains about the latest raid by the state controllers. but also get his way i have no idea whether the raid was legal or not they came to my house and set it on fire then they left again i couldn't do anything. he's talking about an operation by brazilian environmental police against the illegal gold diggers in the reserves. not only are the criminals destroying the rain forest and poisoning the ground with mercury but they are also bringing the new coronavirus into the indigenous region global sinatra zillion environmental police destroyed excavators and pumps and videos taken on their

mobile phones gold diggers complained about the rape. of the government and the environment minister promised us that we could look for gold in the indigenous areas i that's why we expect our workers gold diggers to be legalized but we're going to carry on until then. thanks to the gold. there's shop owner is doing well and his business will often get out but if it were up to him he would be doing even better. when you know we're really the best thing the government could do is to legalize our area and improve the streets so i can do our business. approach that would be great he. always. gets better can foster. a jeep has stopped outside from the load in the back it's obvious what this man is planning after picking up some groceries he drives

directly into the reserve with his workers the group clearly has an eye on rain forest temba. up. the fact is by destroying the rain forest of the indigenous peoples the squatters without realizing it are increasing the risk of a pandemic. the . brazils indigenous people are fighting against the economic exploitation of the rainforest their instincts tell them that economic progress also brings disadvantages. but that we're not just demanding better health care in the pandemic but to close this road too because we are demonstrating against the planned railway tracks but it will be of no good. mostly protests like this have no effect since an intact rainforest as

a buffer zone against dangerous viruses cannot be exploited for economic gain. german alvarado thinks differently ever since he can remember he has lived in and from li amazon rain forest german knows every plant and the significance of each one. this liana vine which grows up a. out of the ground contains drinking water. on every plant and every living creature in the jungle has its own purpose such as the resin of a palm tree which can help to heal wounds. the forest is like a pharmacy. we can find everything

here. medicine and remedies simply everything. the intact rain forest has become his wife the hood for 10 years he's been operating on the edge of the conservation area. at the moment most of his huts are empty the coronavirus pandemic has brought sustainable tourism to a standstill. i. was always fully booked and is particularly popular with tourists from europe who want to vacation in the jungle now your man and his wife are worried about their livelihood they have ploughed all their savings into this business. i. grilled amazon river fish like tamba are the specialty of chairman and his wife but

there was closed for 6 months and business is still smug. well i think that in a few months tourists will come again from europe everything depends on the back scene until it exists no one will be able to travel with confidence still they don't want to give up. the 1st guest since the reopening have just appeared a couple from sao paolo this region has so far been spared from raging fires and gold diggers ripping up the ground. or vinegar spread them i luckily our regional government takes care of protected areas such as ours here so there's not as much deforestation. but other amazon regions have been destroyed the deforestation will have negative consequences for us humans one day will be marked on the other by that as if. the north has only one b.h.o.

or me. just at the university campus of san paolo are researching these consequences for years they've been warning of a ticking time bomb in the form of wild animals encountering humans more often due to these sweeping fires and deforestation of that level brought after every fire more animals graze at the edges of the rain forest. that's where the viruses can be transmitted to cattle and the viruses adapt to their new host later we humans can catch them this worries me deeply. researchers had also warned of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus but those in power ignored the signals sent by scientists. think it's mange those who like the book unfortunately none of the studies were taken seriously it may be good if they had

shown new coronaviruses in bats since 2013 people thought it was me. yes you know was this is she also our warnings that these coronaviruses could mutate and be transmitted to humans did not lead to the necessary measures being taken as a result of us so very much for. their analysis of bad feces and in trails shows nothing this time. they find the rabies virus but there are no novel coronavirus is or other dangerous pathogens. it is basic research which only costs a little money but still funding was recently cut. and lost family members. that's extremely difficult to get funding for our kind of research now during the pandemic that it has been a little easier for with. equality but is was the virus crisis is over

our financial worries will return and i'm not very optimistic. about hunters will continue their search in spite of adversity even if it's frustrating in brazil at the moment. for the death of saltillo. i'm disappointed that our government hardly ever listens to the scientists. they're always arguing with the research is. girl no more all we can do is to fight back and try to keep hold of the objectives of our research. for the virus hunters is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. in the amazon metropolis of menow us researchers are trying to get fire which is under control using pragmatic means. came court tennis is preparing fly traps in the

state run institute for your crews insecticide is placed. around the edges of a bucket it's a new method they've been trying for 3 years. when the mosquitoes lay their larva in the bucket the poison sticks to that here but again and the mosquitoes spread the insecticide to many other places. it's a simple principle which is now used everywhere in manassas cortez and his team drive out to the neighborhoods on the edge of the city where the mosquitoes are a particular nuisance they carry dengue fever which is rife here at the moment there is a monthly check of private households the researchers have placed their prepared buckets here as in this kitchen in the backyard. the old buckets have to be replaced. get to

the super 14 by the mosquitoes love places. like under tables are in corners or city. it doesn't take long for the new trap to be ready for action against the virus carrying mosquitoes. what's special about this is that almost the toes themselves spread the poison from these poles to other places that we can't even reach lower. shortly afterward they perform a test with a mosquito vacuum. there are no mosquitoes found in the cracks and crevices so the traps obviously work the residents confirm this they notice that there are fewer mosquitoes than before. them at the gym i was always afraid of these diseases malaria or yellow fever changed until now there are many neighbors who don't take care they don't clear out levels of water so the mosquitoes reproduce there and we

all suffer from that skinny is the will of the of the. mosquitoes spreading viruses are still a problem and now so due to the many open sewers and cesspits then there's the rapid expansion of the city slums are developing where once there was rain forest people are coming ever closer to the viruses hidden in the wilderness the development seems irreversible and is fueled by the flourishing industry of. the researchers from the few crews institute are alarmed whenever the settlements encroach on the wilderness the risk increases that a new virus could be transmitted to humans. what the musical i mean the whole structure of the economy has to change we have to explain to everyone that the rainforest is more useful to us if we don't cut it down to do. all of the researchers we need share this view as do the biologists and vets at the refuge station for wild animals in manassas. animals discovered during raids or which show

mysterious diseases are kept in these cages. biologist alessandro novice is feeding a young female jaguar before she inspects the most recent arrivals with her colleagues. this undernourished pod tamarin monkey was recently brought to the refuge the vet's a nest of times is so they can examine it. that carry the tamarind is pretty groggy already but it's still hanging on to see would i. feel. that. it's time for the

examination of the wounds are visible on its feet the researchers seem worried. and she says that the it seems to be something contagious but we can only say for sure after the examination whether the monkey is suffering from a virus bacteria or a fungal infection as well to. the samples are taken of the skin and fur and then saliva. if users very much richer my feeling to me the illness seems pretty complex. we don't know exactly why the animal has lost so much weight. but that is very much it could be bacteria attacking the immune system change all of. a new virus which is circulating in this region that if we. didn't seem.

to be on the safe side this monkey samples will be sent to a special biology lab to compare them with other different types of viruses from around the world and. as a virus hunter one thing you need is patience. is a vital vehicles inquisitive israel's most of the novel virus as we find do not cause illness and have not been transmitted to humans in the most vocal the chemicals as the mineral but they could mutate at any time. by legend subgoals little some little you know any clues especially if we carry on as we're doing now say the researchers has for us in the form leave us the amazon region is disappearing that this is bound to have consequences for global health in the medium and long term we will experience new diseases being transmitted from animals to humans in the days that didn't exist outside of the knowledge that. scientists warn that the next pandemic could come from the amazon region it is simply

a question of trying. to get a hold of one of the only thing that could prevent it is a radical change in our lifestyle but this is currently not foreseeable. i'm worried about the way we treat the forest. for the trees all support life and they are ancient. how can people destroy the rain within minutes with a chainsaw mark in a. rain forest destruction may well be releasing viruses which would otherwise never reach humans the researchers have never heard of pandemics spreading inside the jungle.

2022 a selection on. the floor yet to find out why the latino gold leans more republican . i shall report today. and. playing with. video and audio. w.

this is g w news why. should even the united states. making their final pitches to the voters with less than 24 hours until the vote both candidates are campaigning in several swing states nearly $100000000.00 americans have already cast their ballots could be the highest in a century also coming up germany's chancellor defends her country's new coronavirus restrictions are known as walk. people to follow the rules to protect their health says.