Malaria parasites can manipulate the body odour of mice, research in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests.
Researchers believe parasites may change odours in order to help them with a key stage in their reproduction. And scientists found the altered scent persists at a critical time when mice have no symptoms but remain infectious.
They are working on further trials to determine whether parasites can affect human smell too.
Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and
The parasite did not completely alter the smell of the individual - instead it changed the level of compounds already present in mouse odour
And this was particularly noticeable in mice which were still infectious but no longer showed any symptoms of the disease - corresponding to a crucial time in the life cycle of the parasite.
Prof Consuelo De Moraes of
The study showed mosquitoes were most attracted to mice when the parasites in their bodies were at a key point in their development - a stage when they needed to be passed back to a mosquito in order to reproduce.
Malaria parasites have a complex life-cycle with several stages. They need to develop and mature in both humans and mosquitoes.
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