Along with its many advantages, social roosting imposes a major risk of pathogen transmission. How social animals, and especially free-ranging mammals, reduce this risk is poorly documented. We used lipopolysaccharide injection to imitate bacterial sickness in both a captive and a free-ranging colony of an extremely social, long lived mammal - the Egyptian fruit bat. We monitored behavioral and physiological responses using an arsenal of methods, including on-board GPS and acceleration, video, temperature and weight measurements, and blood samples. Sick-like bats exhibited an increased immune response, as well as classical illness symptoms including fever, weight loss, anorexia, and lethargy. Notably, they also isolated themselves from the group by leaving the social cluster and avoiding contact. Free-ranging individuals ceased foraging outdoors for at least two nights. Together, these sickness behaviors demonstrate a strong, integrative immune response which promotes recovery of infected individuals while protecting their group members from transmission of pathogens, and at the same time, reducing spillover events outside the roost.

中文翻译：

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病蝙蝠独自待在家里：埃及果蝠（Rousettus aegyptiacus）在急性期反应中的社交距离

除了其许多优点外，社会栖息也带来了病原体传播的重大风险。社交动物，尤其是自由放养的哺乳动物如何减少这种风险的文献很少。我们使用脂多糖注射来模仿极端社交，长寿哺乳动物-埃及果蝠的圈养和自由放养菌落中的细菌病。我们使用多种方法监控了行为和生理反应，包括车载GPS和加速度，视频，温度和体重测量以及血液样本。病态的蝙蝠表现出增强的免疫反应，以及经典的疾病症状，包括发烧，体重减轻，厌食和嗜睡。值得注意的是，他们还通过离开社交群体并避免接触来使自己与群体隔离。自由奔放的个体至少在两个晚上停止在户外觅食。这些疾病行为共同显示出强大的综合免疫反应，可促进受感染个体的康复，同时保护其群体成员免受病原体的传播，同时减少栖息地以外的溢出事件。