The coronavirus pandemic has affected everyone, with social distancing becoming the immediate response for containing the spread of the virus. Animals, it turns out, have similar distancing behavioral responses when faced with threats, such as contagious diseases, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Humans are vulnerable to contagious diseases "because the reproductive rate of directly transmitted pathogens increases with the availability of hosts and their rate of contact," the study notes, and points to a common trait of humans and many animals alike - sociability. As beneficial as it may be from an evolutionary perspective, high density interactions makes all social animals particularly vulnerable to the threats posed by emerging infectious diseases.
Full Story (Jerusalem Post)
