PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Sick bats also employ 'social distancing' which prevents the outbreak of epidemics

New study from Tel Aviv University reveals that bats also resort to isolation which can assist in preventing mass contagion

Sick bats also employ 'social distancing' which prevents the outbreak of epidemics
2021-06-01
(Press-News.org) The Covid-19 pandemic has introduced us to expressions like 'lockdown', 'isolation' and 'social distancing', which became part of social conduct all over the world. Now it appears that bats also maintain social distancing which might help prevent the spread of contagious diseases in their colonies. In a new study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Science, researchers from Tel Aviv University demonstrate that sick bats, just like ill humans, prefer to stay away from their communities, probably as a means for recovery, and possibly also as a measure for protecting others. The study was conducted by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Kelsey Moreno and PhD candidate Maya Weinberg at the laboratory of Prof. Yossi Yovel, Head of the Sagol School of Neuroscience and a researcher at School of Zoology at the George S. wise Faculty of Life Sciences.

The study monitored two colonies of Egyptian fruit bats - one living in an enclosure and the other in its natural environment. To examine the behavior of bats when they get sick, the researchers injected several bats in each group with a bacteria-like protein, thereby stimulating their immune response without generating any real danger to the bats. Tests revealed symptoms such as a high fever, fatigue and weight loss, and the 'ill' bats' behavior was tracked with GPS. The researchers discovered that the 'sick' bats chose to keep away from the colony. In the first group, they left the bat cluster of their own accord and kept their distance. In the second group the 'ill' bats likewise moved away from the other bats in the colony, and also stayed in the colony and did not go out in search of food for two successive nights.

Research student Maya Weinberg explains that this social distancing behavior is probably caused by the need to conserve energy - by avoiding the energy-consuming social interactions in the group. Weinberg emphasizes, however, that this behavior can also protect the group and prevent the pathogen from spreading within the colony. Moreover, the fact that sick bats don't leave the cave, prevents the disease from spreading to other colonies. "The bats' choice to stay away from the group is highly unusual for these animals. Normally these bats are extremely social creatures, living in caves in very crowded conditions," says Weinberg. "In fact, the 'sick' bats' behavior is very reminiscent of our own during recovery from an illness. Just as we prefer to stay home quietly under the blanket when we are ill, sick bats, living in very crowded caves, also seek solitude and peace as they recuperate."

Prof. Yovel adds that the study's findings suggest that the likelihood of bats passing pathogens to humans under regular conditions is very low, because sick bats tend to isolate themselves and stay in the cave. "We observed that during illness bats choose to stay away from the colony and don't leave the cave, and thus avoid mixing with other bats. This suggests that in order to encounter a sick bat, people must actually invade the bats' natural environment or eliminate their habitats. In other words, if we protect them, they will also protect us."

INFORMATION:


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Sick bats also employ 'social distancing' which prevents the outbreak of epidemics

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Is the U.S. Understating Climate Emissions from Meat and Dairy Production?

2021-06-01
Methane emissions from North American livestock may be routinely undercounted, a new analysis by researchers at New York University and Johns Hopkins University finds. The work also notes that in developing countries, where animal agriculture is becoming increasingly industrialized, methane emissions could rise more than expected. These assessments are based on a review, appearing in the journal Environmental Research Letters, of eight existing studies. Methane is a global warming gas even more powerful than CO2. Its amount and lifetime in the atmosphere are smaller than CO2, but quantities are still increasing. The United Nations has recently ...

Scientists develop new method for ultra-high-throughput RNA sequencing in single cells

Scientists develop new method for ultra-high-throughput RNA sequencing in single cells
2021-06-01
RNA sequencing is a powerful technology for studying cells and diseases. In particular, single-cell RNA sequencing helps uncover the heterogeneity and diversity of our body. This is the central technology of the "Human Cell Atlas" in its quest to map all human cells. However, single-cell RNA sequencing reaches its limits in very large projects, as it is time-consuming and very expensive. To address these challenges, scientists from the research group of Christoph Bock, principal investigator at the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and professor at the Medical University of Vienna, developed ...

A mechanism that reduces blood vessels in Alzheimer's patients

2021-06-01
Researchers at the Biomedicine Institute of Seville (IBiS) have discovered a new mechanism of Alzheimer's disease that disorganises the blood vessels around amyloid plaques, one of the characteristic features of the disease. The study, published in the international journal Nature Communications, was led by the laboratory of Dr. Alberto Pascual, from the Neuronal Maintenance Mechanisms Group at IBiS and was chiefly carried out by María Isabel Álvarez Vergara and Alicia E. Rosales-Nieves. Relevance of the finding Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia worldwide. In Spain, its incidence is increasing dramatically as the population ages and yet, unfortunately, the origin of the disease is still unknown. The mechanism put forward ...

Low levels of omega-3 associated with higher risk of psychosis

2021-06-01
New research has found that adolescents with higher levels of an omega-3 fatty acid in their blood were less likely to develop psychotic disorder in early adulthood, suggesting that it may have a potential preventative effect of reducing the risk of psychosis. The study, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in END ...

A blood sugar biomarker identifies patients with atherosclerosis and a risk of cardiovascular events

A blood sugar biomarker identifies patients with atherosclerosis and a risk of cardiovascular events
2021-06-01
The routine use of the glycosylated hemoglobin test to track blood sugar levels in the general population can identify individuals with more advanced atherosclerotic disease. Currently used in the diagnosis and management of diabetes, glycosylated hemoglobin can provide a useful estimate of atherosclerotic disease, and therefore of cardiovascular risk, in individuals without diabetes with or without possible prediabetes. This is the main finding of a study carried out by scientists at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC). The advance heralded by the CNIC study is the use of this blood-sugar measure in apparently healthy middle-aged ...

Zhores supercomputer helps Skoltech researchers model new method of generating gamma-ray combs

2021-06-01
Skoltech researchers used the resources of the university's Zhores supercomputer to study a new method of generating gamma-ray combs for nuclear and X-ray photonics and spectroscopy of new materials. The paper was published in the journal Physical Review Letters. A gamma-ray comb is a series of short bursts that, when plotted as intensity versus frequency, look like sharp and equally spaced teeth of a comb. Generating these combs at high brightness in the gamma-ray domain has been challenging because of something called ponderomotive spectral broadening - an effect that destroys the monochromaticity that allows gamma-ray sources to be used in nuclear spectroscopy, medicine, and other applications. Sergey ...

Chemistry and biology of sulfur containing natural products from marine microorganisms

Chemistry and biology of sulfur containing natural products from marine microorganisms
2021-06-01
The intriguing chemistry and biology of sulfur?containing natural products from marine microorganisms (1987-2020) https://doi.org/10.1007/s42995-021-00101-2 Announcing a new publication for Marine Life Science & Technology journal. In this review article the authors Yang Hai, Mei?Yan Wei, Chang?Yun Wang, Yu?Cheng Gu and Chang?Lun Shao from Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China and Syngenta Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Berkshire, UK consider the chemistry and biology of sulfur?containing natural products from marine microorganisms. Natural products derived ...

Academic journal Polar Science features science in the Arctic

2021-06-01
The National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) publishes Polar Science, a peer-reviewed quarterly journal dealing with polar science in collaboration with the Elsevier B. V.. The most recent issue (Vol. 27 published in March 2021) was a special issue entitled "Arctic Challenge for Sustainability Project (ArCS)," which featured the former national (nation-wide) Arctic research project in Japan. The full text of this issue is freely accessible worldwide for a limited time until 10 September 2021. The Arctic Research Project "Arctic Challenge for Sustainability (ArCS)" was carried out from September 2015 to March 2020 as a national flagship project funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, ...

Hydraulic instability decides who's to die and who's to live

Hydraulic instability decides whos to die and whos to live
2021-06-01
In past studies, researchers have found that C. elegans gonads generate more germ cells than needed and that only half of them grow to become oocytes, while the rest shrinks and die by physiological apoptosis, a programmed cell death that occurs in multicellular organisms. Now, scientists from the Biotechnology Center of the TU Dresden (BIOTEC), the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life (PoL) at the TU Dresden, the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems (MPI-PKS), the Flatiron Institute, NY, and the University of California, Berkeley, found evidence to answer the question of what triggers this cell fate decision between life and death in the germline. Prior studies ...

Larger sample sizes needed to avoid false negative findings in vitamin D trials

2021-06-01
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have developed a novel set of tools for designing vitamin D clinical trials that capture large seasonal and population-wide differences in vitamin D status, typically seen in individuals. Their study published in the journal Scientific Reports (today, Monday 31st May 2021) provides a framework for clinical trials to establish whether vitamin D supplementation is effective against a given disease. The study also reveals that many trials which failed to find any association between vitamin D and disease prevention may have been underpowered or conducted without enough subjects to detect a benefit of vitamin D. You can read the full journal paper here: https://go.nature.com/3uERjgO The ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Underserved youth less likely to visit emergency department for concussion in Ontario, study finds

‘Molecular shield’ placed in the nose may soon treat common hay fever trigger

Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂

Groundbreaking quantum study puts wave-particle duality to work

Weekly injection could be life changing for Parkinson’s patients

Toxic metals linked to impaired growth in infants in Guatemala

Being consistently physically active in adulthood linked to 30–40% lower risk of death

Nerve pain drug gabapentin linked to increased dementia, cognitive impairment risks

Children’s social care involvement common to nearly third of UK mums who died during perinatal period

‘Support, not judgement’: Study explores links between children’s social care involvement and maternal deaths

Ethnic minority and poorer children more likely to die in intensive care

Major progress in fertility preservation after treatment for cancer of the lymphatic system

Fewer complications after additional ultrasound in pregnant women who feel less fetal movement

Environmental impact of common pesticides seriously underestimated

The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought

New study reveals surprising reproductive secrets of a cricket-hunting parasitoid fly

Media Tip Sheet: Symposia at ESA2025

NSF CAREER Award will power UVA engineer’s research to improve drug purification

Tiny parasitoid flies show how early-life competition shapes adult success

New coating for glass promises energy-saving windows

Green spaces boost children’s cognitive skills and strengthen family well-being

Ancient trees dying faster than expected in Eastern Oregon

Study findings help hone precision of proven CVD risk tool

Most patients with advanced melanoma who received pre-surgical immunotherapy remain alive and disease free four years later

Introducing BioEmu: A generative AI Model that enables high-speed and accurate prediction of protein structural ensembles

Replacing mutated microglia with healthy microglia halts progression of genetic neurological disease in mice and humans

New research shows how tropical plants manage rival insect tenants by giving them separate ‘flats’

Condo-style living helps keep the peace inside these ant plants

Climate change action could dramatically limit rising UK heatwave deaths

Annual heat-related deaths projected to increase significantly due to climate and population change

[Press-News.org] Sick bats also employ 'social distancing' which prevents the outbreak of epidemics
New study from Tel Aviv University reveals that bats also resort to isolation which can assist in preventing mass contagion