In a recent study published in the scientific journal Behavioral Ecology, the researchers examined the actions of bats of the common vampire species (Desmodus rotundus) that affect the rate of spread of viruses between them.
As part of the experiment, researchers tracked a natural colony of hollow wooden bats at the Lamanai archeological site in Belize. Lipolysaccharides, which are organic compounds to which animal immune systems respond, were injected into 16 of the adult bats. In this case, the compound caused the bats to experience symptoms characteristic of a disease. At the same time, a group of 15 adult bats were given a placebo shot.
After the injection, the bats were returned to their colonies and 1.8 gram sensors were attached to their backs, which monitored the encounters between them for three days.
In “Angle”, the news agency of the Israeli Association of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, which presented the study, we updated that the “sick” bats socialized on average with four individuals less, with each session lasting on average about half an hour less than those of the “healthy” bats. It was also found that the bats in the colony that received a placebo shot were less close to the “sick” bats. Two days later, with the gradual disappearance of the symptoms of the disease, the bats began to return to normal conduct.
Professor Gerald Carter, one of the researchers and an expert on the evolution, ecology and biology of organisms at Ohio State University, said, “It is likely that the effects we have shown in the study are common in many other animals as well.”
Dr. Zohar Brent-Yitzhaki, a health and environment researcher at the Ministry of Health and a faculty member in the Faculty of Engineering at the Ruppin Academic Center, referred to the actions taken among humans to eradicate the epidemic, based on research findings. “Wearing masks is an excellent solution for dealing with the spread of the plague, because it is proven that the virus is transmitted by contact between people,” said Dr. Brent-Yitzhaki. “In addition, the ‘social experiment’ we went into in the past year demonstrated that maintaining social distance is also relevant to dealing with other viruses transmitted in similar ways – such as the flu, in which we have seen a significant reduction in winter morbidity.”