Healthy mice start to smell like sick ones

2018-10-11T09:07:00

A white laboratory mouse on a number of test tubes

Source: Janson George / Shutterstock.com

Sniffer mice and chemical analysis suggest that sickness odours are contagious

Mice that live with sick mates start smelling a little bit sick themselves even if they remain healthy, chemical analysis has revealed. Although the reason for this is not clear yet, it might be a response of the healthy animals’ immune system upping its defences to deal with a potential threat.

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