SCIENCE LAB SCREENS : GERMOPHOBIC

REMEMBER wiping down groceries before they went into the fridge? Or washing your hands to the tune of "Happy Birthday to You''? 

Before it was determined exactly how the coronavirus spread, people were desperate to avoid contamination. But humans aren't the only ones who display that type of behaviour.

IN a new study, Japanese macaques became more cautious about food sources that appeared contaminated after experiencing a disease outbreak. This suggests that primates' ability to avoid disease can be shaped by experience and learned socially.

As Covid-19 cases grew in early 2020, a lesser known epidemic was spreading at a sanctuary for macaques in South Texas. An H.I.V. like virus - spread through bites and scratches - swept through three of the sanctuary's four groups.

Staff members responded by separating, testing and isolating the animals, Some macques died quickly from severe hemorrhaging, while others became ill gradually.

Many of the monkeys who didn't get sick had front-row seats to their symptomatic neighbours.

Once the threat of disease had passed, the experiment began : The macaques received two pieces of food. One was placed on a clean surface. The other was placed on a board converted in macaque feces [ which was sealed with an epoxy material to eliminate odor or actual risk of infection ].

Monkeys who had lived through the outbreak were less likely to take food from the surface with feces. They ate from it only 47 percent of the trials ; the monkeys who didn't experience the outbreak ate from it in 79 percent of the trials.

'' They're somehow adapting to a potential risk that they're perceiving,'' said Federico Rossano, an author of the study.

!WOW! thanks Ryan Green.